Double Trouble
by elang4
Summary: Another twin fic. Lorelai had Holly as well as Rory. This will start at the beginning of season 3. This will follow their lives through the seasons as they encounter obstacles, romance and lots of fun. Will also be a javajunkie fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Please don't hate me! :P I feel like my stories at the moment aren't really exciting readers and I feel like my best stories have been twin ones so I've had some inspiration to start another one. Don't worry, it won't just be the same as my other ones. I've already got some new ideas for this. :)**

**So Lorelai had Rory and Holly instead of just Rory. This story will start at the beginning of season 3. Everything that happened in the show before season 3 has happened as usual except that Rory and Dean stayed broken up after their first break up. This will be a javajunkie as well and haven't quite decided on the girls' pairings yet. :)**

Chapter 1

Holly entered the diner and went up to the counter. "Hey Mariano." She grinned.

Jess looked up from his book and nodded at her. "Gilmore." He said.

"You could seem a bit more excited to see your favourite Gilmore sister." Holly joked.

"Who says you're my favourite?" Jess said smirking slightly.

"Because you broke my wrist in that car accident and if you say you like Rory more, we're no longer friends." She grinned.

"Friends huh? Even after I broke your wrist?" Jess smirked.

"I forgive you." Holly shrugged grinning.

Jess just shook his head but smirked. "You didn't break your wrist by the way, you fractured it." He said.

"Tell my grandmother that." She smirked.

Jess chuckled. "Bet I'll never be welcome at your grandparents' house huh?"

"You would never want to go anyway, trust me." Holly joked. She glanced round. "No Shane today then?" She said casually.

"Nope." He said.

"Interesting." She said.

Jess glanced at her. "What?"

"Nothing." She said. "Just seems you two seem to be stuck to each other lately."

"Passes time." He shrugged.

"What every girl wants to hear." Holly rolled her eyes.

"Why do you care?" Jess asked.

"I don't." She said.

"Ok."

"Ok." Holly said.

Jess glanced at her. "So Rory's back today?"

"Yep, mom's meeting me here and then we're heading to the airport." She nodded.

"So you want coffee while you're waiting?" He asked.

"You know me well!" She grinned.

"Unfortunately." Jess said but smirked slightly, going to get her a cup to go of coffee.

"Offspring!" Lorelai grinned, rushing into the diner.

"Hey mom!" Holly smiled.

"You ready?" She asked.

"Yep, just one minute." She said glancing back towards Jess.

"Here." He said.

"Thanking you." Holly grinned.

"You ordered coffee for yourself and not me?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I can get you one." Jess said.

"Oh..uh..no, it's ok." She said.

Holly frowned. "You're actually saying no to coffee? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. We should just get going." Lorelai said.

"You going to get Rory?" Luke said coming over.

"Yep, just going now." Lorelai nodded.

"She have fun?" He asked.

"I think so." Lorelai smiled. "I'll bring her by once we're back and you can ask her yourself."

"Sounds good." He nodded. "Coffee?" He asked.

"Yes please!" She said eagerly.

"You just said you didn't want any..." Holly said confused.

"Well, I've changed my mind." She said.

"Right..." Holly rolled her eyes knowing she hadn't changed her mind, she just didn't want Jess to get her coffee for whatever reason.

"Right, let's motor!" Lorelai smiled once Luke had given her the coffee.

"Ok. Bye Mariano!" Holly grinned.

"See ya." Jess said.

* * *

"So what's the gossip?" Rory asked Holly as they walked through the square taking in the End of Summer Madness Festival.

"Nothing much. Luke and mom made up." Holly said.

"Yeah I gathered that by her taking me to the diner when we got back." Rory laughed. "How did they make up?"

"Don't know. Mom went there after Friday night dinner last week and from then on, they were good." Holly shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad. She was miserable before." Rory said.

"Tell me about it." Holly exclaimed. "You didn't have to live with it. You were living the life in Washington!" She teased.

Rory laughed. "I was hardly living the life. It was good though. Paris had a date."

"No way!" She laughed.

"He's actually really nice and I think it went well. When Paris is happy, the whole world's happy so I'm not complaining." She smirked.

"Fair enough." Holly smirked. "Oh..uh.." She said stopping as she saw someone.

"What?" Rory said following her gaze. "Oh..." She said as she saw Dean and Lindsey walking along the stalls, holding hands.

"Yeah, that may have been one thing I failed to tell you..." Holly cringed. "Sorry..."

She sighed. "It's fine. He was always going to move on. We broke up a year ago." She said.

"I know but..." Holly said.

"It's fine. Honestly. I'm just glad he's happy. He deserves to be." Rory said giving her a smile.

"Really?"

"Really." She assured her. "Whoa, that's new." She said gesturing over to Jess who was leaning against a tree, kissing Shane.

"Yeah..." Holly said.

Rory glanced at her. "How long has that been going on?"

"About a month now. Their faces always seem to be glued to each other's." She said.

"Gross." Rory grimaced.

"Think it's driving Luke crazy." Holly smirked.

Rory laughed. "I bet." She glanced at her sister. "Are you ok?"

Holly looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean...with them..." She said gesturing to Jess and Shane.

Holly frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?" She said.

"Because...well..." Rory hesitated before sighing. "No reason."

"Ok..." Holly said. "You want to pop by Lane's?"

"Let's go!" Rory grinned.

"Hey Ror?" She said.

"Yeah?"

"I've missed you." Holly smiled.

"I've missed you too." Rory smiled.

* * *

"Urghh I am never going there again!" Lorelai groaned as they returned from Friday night dinner, heading into the diner.

"Give them time. It was probably just a shock." Rory sighed.

"Trust me, they will use this against me forever." Lorelai sighed.

"I can't believe they wanted dad to leave Sherry when she was pregnant..." Holly said quietly. "I mean, they hated that he did that to you..."

"No, they hated that I let him do that. Big difference." She said. "Anyway, can we not talk about it anymore?"

"Sure." Holly said knowing how hard her mom found talking about their dad at the moment. "Hey Luke, can we get burgers all round? Mom's had a rough night."

"It wasn't that bad..." Lorelai said.

"Dinner with your parents?" Luke guessed.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"Burger and fries coming up." He said.

"Thanks Luke." She smiled softly.

A while later, Luke brought the food over.

"Hey Luke, you should sit with us." Rory smiled.

"Oh..uh..I don't know..." He hesitated.

"Yeah come on, Luke. You've not got any customers." Holly smiled. "Tell him, mom."

"You should join us." Lorelai smiled softly.

"Alright, let me just get some food." Luke smiled. He saw Jess appear from behind the curtain. "Hey, I'm just making myself some food. You want to join us?" He asked.

Jess glanced over at the table and saw Lorelai avoiding his gaze. "It's ok. I'm off to Shane's." He said.

"Oh..ok." Luke said.

"See ya." Jess said.

"Yeah...see ya." Luke sighed.

Jess passed the table and glanced at Holly. "Hey." He said.

"Hey." Holly said. "Off to your girlfriend's?" She teased.

"She's not my girlfriend." He said.

"Sure she's not. She's just someone you see every minute of the day and you can't seem to keep your mouth away from hers." She joked.

"Jealous?" Jess retorted.

"As if." Holly rolled her eyes.

Jess just shook his head. "Good to see you back." He nodded at Rory.

"Good to be back." Rory smiled.

"See you around." Jess told them.

"Wait!" Holly said.

"What?" He said.

"That book we were talking about. It arrived today, I forgot to say earlier. So you can come by anytime to borrow it if you like." Holly said.

"Sure." Jess nodded. He glanced at her. "Thanks." He said.

"No problem. Have fun kissing Shane." She grinned.

Jess rolled his eyes. "See ya." He said before leaving.

* * *

Holly was sat on her bed later that evening when she heard a tap on her window. She frowned and got up, pulling her curtains open to reveal Jess standing on the porch outside. She opened the window and let him in. "What are you doing here?" She said.

"You said I could come by anytime for the book." Jess said.

"I meant at any normal time! My mom would kill you if she found you here right now!" Holly smirked.

"Even more reason then." He smirked.

"You're crazy." Holly laughed, shaking her head. "What happened to Shane? I thought you were going to hers."

"Got bored." He shrugged.

"So you came here?" Holly raised her eyebrows.

"It's never boring here." Jess shrugged. "Plus you promised me this book."

"You didn't think I might want to read it first?" She said.

"You read slow. You give it to me today, I'll give it back to you by the end of tomorrow." He said.

"I do not read slow!" She exclaimed in mock horror.

"Uh huh." He smirked.

"Hol?" Lorelai's voice rang through the house.

Holly's eyes widened as she heard her mom coming down the stairs. "Quick, go!" She exclaimed.

"Not without the book." Jess smirked.

"Are you kidding me? Jess!" She exclaimed.

"You always say you always keep your promises. Maybe I'll have to rethink our friendship if..." Jess said but was suddenly hit by a flying book. "Well that was something."

"You're crazy." Holly said but smirked slightly. "There's the book. Now please go!" She said urgently.

"Nice doing business with you." He smirked before quietly slipping out of the window and disappearing off.

Holly let out a breath and shook her head but couldn't help but smile.

"Hol?" Lorelai called again.

"Coming!" Holly called. "What's up?" She asked as she left her room.

**So I hope you liked it! :) Please let me know if you want me to continue with this. I really love reading your reviews so please let me know what you think! :) Thanks for your continued support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for all your support! :) I hope you continue reading. :)**

Chapter 2

"Urgh, I hate having a cold." Lorelai groaned as she sat down at a table in Luke's with Rory and Holly.

"I know you do." Rory said.

"Urgh, it's bad enough being sick but anybody can have a cold." She exclaimed.

"I know they can." Rory said patiently.

"I mean, I'd like to have a good illness, something different, impressive. Just once I'd like to be able to say, "Yeah, I'm not feeling so good, my leg is haunted."" She said.

"Ok see, there's a reason why you only take one packet of TheraFlu at a time." Holly quipped.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Lorelai sighed.

Luke came over just then with Jess and their food. "Alright, pancakes, one fried egg, side of bacon." He said placing it infront of Rory. " And chicken noodle soup, side of mashed potatoes." He said placing it infront of Lorelai.

"Thanks Luke." Rory smiled.

"And another lot of pancakes." Jess said placing it infront of Holly. "I'm done." He told Luke going back to the counter and reading his book again.

"What service!" Holly grinned.

"I swear that kid reads more than anyone." Luke shook his head.

"Oh yeah?" Holly said glancing over at Jess and raising her eyebrows. "Good book huh?" She called over, seeing it was the book she had lent him the evening before.

"Yup." Jess said. "I'm almost done."

"Wow, you really are coming good on your promise." Holly teased.

"I aim to please." He smirked.

"How's the cold coming?" Luke asked Lorelai.

"It's fine." Lorelai said.

"Any better?" He asked.

"It's fine." She repeated.

"It's the third day in a row you've ordered soup for breakfast."

"Oh, well thanks for the tally."

"You know what helps get rid of a cold?" He said.

"Endless vague questioning first thing in the morning?" Lorelai quipped.

"A healthy immune system." Luke continued.

"My second guess." She sighed.

"And you know how you get a healthy immune system?"

"How?" Holly chipped in, getting a look from her mom in return.

"Remember when you hated me? That was fun, wasn't it?" Lorelai said.

"Is it eating nothing but crap all day and blowing out your brain cells with coffee?" He said.

"No." Rory joined in.

"Hey, who's side are you both on?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Luke's." Holly and Rory said in unison.

"Traitors." She grumbled.

"Hey, he feeds us." Rory said.

"And gives us coffee." Holly grinned.

"Somewhat reluctantly." Rory grinned.

"Eat a vegetable now and then, maybe some high fibre cereal in the morning." Luke told Lorelai.

"Listen, Grandpa, my soup's getting cold." Lorelai said.

"At least eat the carrots in the soup this time and not just the noodles." He sighed, knowing it was a lost cause.

"I promise." She said. She watched him go before holding out the bowl to Rory. "Eat my carrots." She said.

"Apparently, maturity is extremely overrated in your universe." Rory shook his head.

"Noone's eating your carrots but you." Holly said.

"You'd gang up on me twice in a day?" She exclaimed.

"Yep." Rory and Holly said in unison.

"Ok, stop doing that, will you? It's freaky." Lorelai sighed but reluctantly started eating her soup just as Shane entered the diner and went up to the counter. "Ooh show time!" She said.

Holly glanced over at them where Shane was leaning over the counter whilst Jess read.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." He said, giving her a quick kiss.

"So?" Shane said.

"One sec." Jess said.

"Jess!" She said.

"Relax." He said finally putting down his book. "I'm out." He called to Luke. "Let's go." He told her.

"Ok." Shane said before following Jess out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, an entire conversation in ten words or less." Lorelai joked.

"A true meeting of the minds." Holly mumbled, glancing out of the window to see Jess and Shane walking away.

"Come on, let's eat and then we can make the most of our last day of holidays." Rory said.

"Sounds good!" Holly smiled and they all tucked into their food.

* * *

"I swear this school thinks we just get brighter by the day. Why do they have to give us so much work on our first day back?" Holly groaned as she and Rory went into Luke's. "Urgh!" She groaned.

"What now?" Rory said.

"Can't they have an actual conversation instead of just having their faces all over each other every day?" She exclaimed gesturing towards the counter where Jess and Shane were kissing.

Rory glanced at her sister. "We can go to Weston's if you want." She said.

"No! This is our place too. I'm not going to let them drive us away." Holly snapped going up and sitting down at the counter.

"Ok..." Rory said.

Holly glanced at them who hadn't noticed they'd arrived. "Uh excuse me? Can you actually pay attention to your customers?" She said.

Jess glanced up. "Oh hey." He said.

"Oh wow, you actually came up for air." Holly said sarcastically.

"What's up with you?" Jess said.

"Nothing. Except not being able to order because you always seem to be occupied." Holly grumbled.

Jess frowned. "What's your problem? I'm taking your orders now."

"Wow, aren't we privileged?" She retorted.

"Two burgers and fries." Rory interrupted hoping to stop the tension.

"Right." Jess shook his head, writing it down. He then went back to Shane and started kissing her again.

"On second thoughts, I'm not actually hungry anymore." Holly grumbled. "I'll meet you at home." She told Rory before leaving.

* * *

"Are you ok?" Lorelai glanced at Holly as they walked up to the door of the Gilmore Mansion.

"Yeah, why?" Holly said.

"You've just been quiet." Lorelai said.

"Sorry." She said quietly.

"No, it's ok. Just wanted to make sure you're ok." She said.

"I'm fine." Holly said.

"Ok." Lorelai said not entirely convinced.

A while later, they were all sat at the dining room table making small talk. Rory and Holly exchanged glances hoping their mom and Grandma could try to get along after their argument over their grandma calling their dad. When they thought it was going alright, the doorbell rang and soon Chris was in the room.

"Lor, I need to talk to you." He said.

"No way..." Holly said.

"Chris, what are you doing here?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You won't return my calls!" He said.

"Did you do this?" Lorelai glared at her mother.

"I knew you'd be here." He said.

"I did not do this." Emily said quickly.

"You gave me no choice." Chris said.

"After I told you to just stay out of it!" She snapped.

"Lorelai, I did not do this!" Emily exclaimed.

"You have to go." Lorelai said getting up.

"I'm not going until you talk to me." Chris said stubbornly following her into the hallway. "Why won't you call me back?" He said.

"Hey, there couldn't be a worst time to have this conversation." She said.

"Really, because it seems to be the only time to have this conversation."

"Look, go home, okay? I promise I will talk to you tomorrow."

"Well, sure, I believe that." He said sarcastically.

"Hey, I've never lied to you! There's no reason to doubt my word." Lorelai said angrily.

"Really? Forty-five unreturned phone calls isn't a reason?"

"No, it isn't."

"You shutting me out like this is wrong." He said.

"I'm not discussing this with you here in my mother's house!" She exclaimed.

"You don't get to dictate this. I need to talk to you, you won't call me back and I did what I had to do. And I'm sorry but after all we've been through, especially over these last few months, you shutting me out is wrong. And you know what hits me the hardest, Lor?" He said angrily.

"Apparently it isn't the door on your way out." She said sarcastically.

"You keeping Rory and Holly from me."

"What?" She said surprised.

"I never, ever thought you'd do that."

"I'm not keeping them from you. I've never done that!"

"Oh really? Then why haven't they called me back, huh? I mean, no matter where you and I have been in our lives, my daughters have always called me back. Until now." Chris said.

"Hey, listen to me..." Lorelai frowned but was interrupted by Rory walking up to them.

"I didn't call you back because I didn't want to! Me! Mom had nothing to do with it." Rory said angrily.

"Ror..." Holly said softly appearing by her sister's side.

"You promised us! You promised us at Sookie's wedding that this was going to work, that you were going to be there, you promised us!" Rory exclaimed, blinking back tears.

"Honey, please understand..." Chris said.

"Oh please..." Holly scoffed.

"No, I always understand! We always understand! And I don't want to understand! I don't even really want to talk about this right now. I've got Mom, that's all I need. Go be somebody else's dad!" Rory said bitterly.

"Don't say that." Chris sighed.

"I'm going upstairs. Call me when he's gone." Rory told Lorelai before rushing upstairs.

"Hol..." Chris tried.

"Don't." Holly shook her head. "I've never trusted you. You've never been there for us so why should I? But Rory did. And you know what? I actually believed you may have changed as well. You seemed...different." She said.

"Holly please..."

Holly shook her head, blinking back tears as well. "You let us down again and I swear it's going to be the last time because I'm done." She snapped.

"Hol, calm down..." Lorelai said softly.

"No. He needs to hear this!" Holly said. "I don't want to hear from you ok? So stop emailing and stop calling me." She said angrily. "I'm going to go find Rory. Tell me when's gone." She told her mom before rushing upstairs.

"They did not get there by themselves." Chris told Lorelai.

"Hey, have you ever met your daughters? They could get anywhere by themselves! They could get to the third dimension by themselves! Rory was helping the crossing guard when she was four." She exclaimed.

"I'm going to talk to them." He said stubbornly heading towards the stairs.

"No, you're not." Lorelai said. "They want to be alone and cool off. Respect that. I'll talk to them later."

"You'll talk to her, great. That makes me feel a whole lot better." He said sarcastically.

"Ok, you need to leave right now." She said.

"Lor please...I want to make this right." He begged.

"You can't." She said.

"I just want to talk!" He exclaimed.

"About what?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I don't know. I just...I don't like how things are."

"But that's how they are!"

"I didn't want things to turn out this way!"

"But they did turn out this way!"

"But I didn't want that!" Chris exclaimed.

"Christopher, is Sherry still pregnant?" Lorelai said.

"Of course she is!"

"Are you still with her?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to marry her?"

"Yes." He said after a small hesitation.

"Then we are where we are! Accept it." Lorelai said.

"I can't."

"God, Chris! Don't you understand that I can't talk to you because it hurts talking to you, it really hurts!" She exclaimed, tears burning her eyes. "Standing here right now is killing me, ok? Don't you understand that?"

"Christopher, I think you'd better go now." Emily's voice suddenly said.

"Emily, I..." Chris tried.

"Leave now, please." She said firmly.

Chris sighed but reluctantly left.

"You know, you need a mask and a horse when you do that." Lorelai said giving her mom a small smile, recognising her olive branch.

"Are you ok?" Emily asked.

"I will be." Lorelai said.

* * *

"I don't know about you two but I could really do with a Luke's fix right now." Lorelai sighed as they walked back through the square after their eventful Friday night dinner.

"Sounds good to me." Rory nodded.

"I'm ok. I think I'm just going to head home." Holly said.

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked.

"Get me some doughnuts yeah?" Holly asked.

"You sure you don't want to come in?" Rory asked concerned.

"I'm fine. I need to do some studying anyway." She said.

"Hey.." Lorelai said softly. "Are you ok? I know tonight was...well, you know."

Holly sighed. "I'm ok. I just...I hate that he did that. That he thought he could just show up like that. It's not right."

"I know." She sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to come in? I'll even refrain from saying something mean about Jess." She joked.

Holly smiled slightly. "Thanks. But I'm good." She said. She didn't really fancy walking in on Jess and Shane again. She didn't know why it bothered her so much but she just couldn't face any more arguments today.

"Ok hon. We'll meet you back home then." Lorelai said softly.

Holly nodded and watched them head off towards the diner. She turned round and started walking home when she suddenly saw Jess and Shane walking towards her. "Great..." She mumbled.

"Is there a problem?" Shane frowned as they reached her.

"No, no problem at all." She grumbled.

"Maybe tell your face that." Shane said smirking slightly.

"Oh just go to hell." Holly snapped.

Jess frowned. "What's your problem?"

"I haven't got a problem! I'm just trying to get home!" Holly exclaimed.

"You've been in a mood all day." Jess said.

"So what? We all have bad days." She mumbled.

"Hol.." Jess said his tone softening slightly.

Holly glanced up at him and tried to hide her tears. "I...can't...Not now..." She said, finding herself suddenly breathing quicker.

"Holly?" He said concerned. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"Jess!" Shane said impatiently. "You said we'd hang out."

"Just go. I'm...fine..." Holly said but found herself getting into a state and she suddenly felt scared, trying to catch her breath.

"Whoa, ok, you've got to calm down." Jess said taking hold of Holly's hands.

"Jess!" Shane exclaimed annoyed.

"Just go home, Shane." Jess snapped.

Shane frowned. "You're really going to hang out with that freak instead of me?" She said annoyed.

"I said, go home." He said gritting her teeth.

"Fine. But don't expect me to just be waiting for you." She snapped before storming off.

"Jess..." Holly said still trying to gasp for breath. "What's happening?"

"I think you're having a panic attack." Jess said leading her over to the pavement edge and sitting down with her. "Just focus on your breathing..."

"I...can't..." She said.

"Ok, then focus on me. Just copy me ok? Breathe in and out, just like me." Jess said breathing deeply in and out several times.

Holly copied him and slowly managed to get her breathing to slow down. "I...I've never had that happen before..." She said quietly.

"What's going on?" He asked.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I just...school's stressful, dad turned up and dinner and we had a shouting match and you..." She said before stopping herself.

"Me?" He frowned. "What about me?"

"Nothing. Forget I said that." Holly said quickly.

"No, tell me. If I've upset you..." He said.

Holly sighed. "You haven't. I just...I guess I just don't like Shane. I feel like you can do better. You deserve better." She said. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess everything just got on top of me today, that's all."

"It happens." Jess said. "Hey, I might have something that will cheer you up." He said.

"What?" She said.

"Here." He said, taking the book she had lent him from his back pocket and handing it to her.

Holly laughed. "You finished it?"

"Told you I would." He smirked.

Holly smirked. "Thanks." She said taking it.

"I even wrote some notes in the margins for your entertainment." He grinned.

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Great." She said. She let out a big breath and stood back up. "I guess I should head home." She said.

"Ok." Jess said standing up as well. "You ok now?" He asked.

Holly smiled softly. "Thanks to my knight in shining armour." She teased slightly.

"Now that is a nickname I will take." He joked.

Holly laughed and wiped away the last tears from her eyes. "Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Hey, you want to vent about anything, I'm here." He said. "Trust me, I know what it's like to have a deadbeat dad."

Holly sighed. "Yeah..."

"I'll see you tomorrow ok?" He said softly.

She nodded. "See you tomorrow."

"Night Gilmore." Jess smirked giving her a mock salute.

Holly smiled slightly. "Night Dodger." She said softly. She watched him go, let out another big breath and then slowly continued walking home.

**So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep letting me know what you think by leaving a review! :) Thank you again for all your support. It really does mean so much! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all your support! :) Here's the next chapter!**

Chapter 3

Holly was sat at the counter at Luke's poring over some papers when a young boy walked up to the counter.

"Hi." He said to Luke.

"You got money?" Luke asked.

"Yes, sir."

"What can I get ya?" He said.

"Let's see. How about a nice, cold egg cream?" The boy asked.

"A what cream?"

"An egg cream. A nice and cold one."

"What is that?" Luke asked confused.

"I think it's milk and soda water with flavouring, isn't it?" Holly said.

"You're asking me? I was the one who asked what it was in the first place." Luke said.

"Nice and cold." The boy said.

"Holly's right. It's milk and soda water." Jess said appearing behind the counter. "You can get them at Coney Island."

"Go to Coney Island, kid." Luke told the boy.

The boy left and another one walked up to the counter. "Sir, can I get something to go?"

"You got money?"

"Uh huh."

"What do you want?"

"A black cow."

"Aw, now come on!" He exclaimed, glaring at Holly and Jess who were sniggering.

"It's just root beer and ice cream." The boy said.

"Root beer and ice cream?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, I can do that." Luke conceded.

"As long as the ice cream's made the old fashioned way. On the premises." The boy said.

"Now wait a second..." He said as Kirk walked up to the counter.

"Hey Luke, can I get a chocolate phosphate?" He asked.

"Ok, what the hell is this?" He said getting annoyed. "This is Taylor, right? Is he behind this?"

"I'm not at liberty to say." Kirk said.

"Ok, then you tell me." He told the boy. "And remember, if you lie, you'll go to hell."

"He didn't say you'd get mad." The boy said quietly.

Luke sighed. "Right come on." He said leading them out and heading to Doose's.

"Well Taylor's going to be getting a classic Luke rant there." Holly laughed.

Jess smirked. "Tell me about it." He said. "What have you got there?" He asked gesturing to the papers.

Holly sighed. "Applications for universities." She said.

"Oh yeah, I heard Rory got her Harvard one right?" He nodded.

"Yep and she is stressing out about it so I had to escape." She said.

"Why is she stressing?" He asked.

"Because she doesn't know what to do for her essay and she's just being Rory thinking she won't get in." Holly rolled her eyes. "Which is stupid."

"How come you didn't apply to Harvard?" Jess asked.

She shrugged. "Doesn't appeal to me. I mean, I know it's an amazing university but I want to do teaching and there are other places that are known for their good education courses." She said.

"I didn't know you wanted to teach." He said.

"Yeah, I have for a while now. Elementary kids though. I couldn't deal with High School kids." She laughed.

"Shame. If I had you as a teacher, I may actually want to learn." Jess smirked.

Holly just shook her head. "You know you could be doing this sort of thing now." She said gesturing to the applications.

"Not my thing." He said.

"You read as much, if not more, than Rory and me. You could ace your classes with your eyes shut." Holly pointed out.

"Why try if I'm not going for university?" He shrugged.

"You know you could still apply..." Holly tried.

"Nope." Jess said.

"But..."

"So where are you applying to?" He asked changing the subject.

She glanced up at him. "You're really interested? Don't you have things you'd rather do now?" She asked. "What about...Shane?" She said cautiously.

"She's not exactly talking to me right now..." Jess said.

"I'm sorry." Holly said quietly. "I feel responsible. I never should have said anything. You deserve to be happy and if she makes you happy, why should I cause you hassle? It's not right." She said. "I'm really sorry."

Jess looked at her for a moment and then shrugged. "Wasn't that into her anyway. It's cool." He said.

"Jess..."

"So where are you applying to?" He asked again.

She sighed but glanced down at her applications. "Well...my mom thinks I'm applying to universities in New York and there's one in Michigan as well." She said.

"But?" He said.

"But what?"

"I figured there was a but coming. You saying your mom thinks at the beginning kind of gave it away." Jess said.

Holly sighed. "Stanford University is well known for an amazing education program." She admitted.

"Wow, California huh?" He said.

She glanced up at him. "You think I'm being crazy?" She asked. "I mean, I know I probably won't even get in but it's also so far away..."

"Sometimes it's good to be far away." He pointed out.

"I don't know if I'd be able to hack it." She admitted.

"It's not like you'd never see your mom or Rory. You'd come and visit and I'm sure they would too." Jess said.

"I know. But...I think I'd miss Stars Hollow and...well..." She said glancing at him. "People..." She added.

Jess glanced at her for a moment. "People would miss you too..." He said.

Holly sighed. "Well I probably won't even get in anyway..." She said.

"Don't be silly, they'd be crazy not to accept you. It would be their loss." Jess said.

"I don't know..." She said glancing at her watch. "Oh crap, I need to go. Rory's having this Harvard lunch with this family and I said I'd go for moral support. Wish me luck, would you?" She joked.

"Good luck." He smirked.

"See you later?"

"Sure." He nodded, watching her rush out.

* * *

Holly needed a breather from the quiz that was going on round the table at this Harvard family's dining table so she had excused herself to go to the bathroom. She stopped outside a bedroom when she heard music inside. A girl suddenly rushed past her into the bedroom.

"Coming through!" She said.

"Oh, sorry! I just heard music and..." Holly said following her in. "Hey, cool room."

"Tom Waits." The girl said.

"What?"

"The music."

"Oh, I thought so. I love him!" Holly smiled.

"I worship him. I even mildly stalked him once." She admitted.

"Really?" Holly laughed.

"Last year, I heard he was staying at this hotel so I went there everyday and sat in the lobby drinking massive amounts of coffee waiting for him to walk by."

"Did you see him?"

"Nope, never came down. For all I know, he's still there. Hand me that brush?" She said.

"Oh, here." Holly said handing it over.

"Stupid manager made me cover for Fiona today. That girl's a major pie crust. Ears?" She said.

"What?" Holly said confused.

"On the chair. What time is it?"

"Uh, three." She said trying to follow the pace of this conversation, handing her a pair of bunny ears.

"Oh, totally late for my next job. Oh well, guess Grandma had to take another trip to the emergency room, right? Are they on straight?" She asked.

"I think so." Holly nodded.

"Good. Who are you?" She said.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Holly."

"You're one of the Harvard bound?"

"No. My sister is." Holly explained.

"Oh right. She downstairs?"

"Yep, she's acing the quiz."

The girl laughed. "Ah the infamous dinner quiz." She nodded. "You needed a breather?"

"Something like that." Holly laughed.

"Zip me up?"

"Sure!" She said. "I'm sorry, are you Carol?"

"Yeah, why?" She said.

"I don't know, I just didn't expect..." Holly said.

"What?"

"Well, you." She admitted.

"Why?" Carol said.

"I don't know. Your parents just made it sound like..."

"Like I was holed up in the Chelsea with a needle sticking out of my arm screaming Sid at the top of my lungs?" She guessed.

Holly smiled slightly. "Something like that."

"Well, to them, this is pretty close." Carol said.

"Can I ask you what exactly you are dressing up like this for?"

"Morgan Tanner's fourth birthday party." She grinned.

"You're kidding." Holly grinned.

"Nope, this is my fifth birthday party this week. Great tips, all cash and of course, there's cake."

"That's so cool!"

"So what's your plan in life?"

"I want to teach. I love kids." Holly smiled.

"Being with kids is definitely a rewarding job." Carol smiled. "What's your name again? Holly?"

"Yeah." Holly nodded. "So you're a waitress, a bunny and you go to school?" She asked.

"I don't go to school. My brother and sister got stuck on that conveyor belt. I, however, escaped somewhere around the eleventh grade, thank god." She said.

"Oh right..." She said.

"Oh, hey, but no offence to your sister. I mean, that's just me. If she likes being on the conveyor belt, then good for you."

"We're not on the conveyor belt." Holly said.

"Ok."

"We're not. I want this. Rory wants Harvard. She's dreamt of going to Harvard since she was a little girl." She said.

"Yeah, a lot of four year olds dream of that. It comes right after meeting Harry Potter." Carol joked.

"Hey, I am not going justify myself or her to someone...with a tail." Holly said but smirked slightly.

Carol grinned. "You're right, I'm sorry." She said. "It's just that around here the Harvard brainwashing starts in the womb. If you were to tell either of my siblings that there was another life choice outside of the Ivy League, I think their khakis would wrinkle."

"Well, maybe they really want it."

"Nope, my parents want it and they want to please my parents. Have you seen a carrot?" She asked.

"Don't you want please your parents?" Holly asked handing her the carrot.

"Yeah, but not at the expense of finding myself."

"Or your carrot." Holly grinned.

"You've got to have your carrot." She laughed. "So, tell me something, how bad do you and Rory want to please your parents?"

"Our mom and really bad, but it's not hard to please our mom. She's ok with anything we do." Holly said. "As long as we're happy, she's good."

"You're sure?"

"I'm very sure." She nodded, starting to feel guilty about not telling her mom about Stanford.

"Then you're lucky." Carol smiled.

"Yeah, I am lucky." Holly smiled softly.

"Oh, Holly, there you are! Quick, I need someone else to fail at these questions like me? I've missed fours questions in a row and I fear if I miss another, I don't get dessert." She said. "Hi other daughter." She smiled at Carol.

"Hi." Carol said amused.

"So are you coming?" Lorelai pleaded.

Holly laughed. "I'll be out right now." She promised.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed.

Holly glanced at Carol. "Hey, do you have a cell?" She asked.

"Of course." Carol said.

"Here." Holly said taking it from her and putting in her number. "You ever need someone to talk to, I'm always around." She smiled.

"Thanks." Carol smiled. "It was nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." She said. "Tell your sister good luck with Harvard."

"I will. Good luck with the party!" Holly grinned.

Carol laughed. "Thanks! I think I'll need it!"

Holly grinned before leaving the room and meeting Lorelai in the hallway. She hugged her tightly.

"Oh, what's that for?" Lorelai said.

"Just for...being you." She smiled.

"Yes, well...I am pretty amazing." She grinned.

"You don't know." Holly smiled.

* * *

"Hey! So how was lunch with Harvard guy?" Lane caught up with Lorelai, Rory and Holly as they left the town meeting that evening.

"Great, he answered all my questions!" Rory smiled.

"And asked you a whole lot of questions as well." Holly quipped.

"He makes a killer chicken, he sticks a lemon up its butt." Lorelai added.

"Nice." Lane laughed.

"And he gave me excellent tips on how to write my essay. We're very impressed with him." Rory said.

"He passes the test." Lorelai shrugged as a guy walked up to Lane.

"Excuse me, Lane?" He said.

"That's me." She said.

"Ok, great, I'm Dave Rygalski." He introduced himself.

"Right, hi! You're a guitarist?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"But how'd you know I was me?" Lane asked.

"The Dead Kennedys shirt was a tip off."

"Good thinking. Hey..uh..isn't it a drag that Jello Biafra isn't singing for them anymore?"

"Yeah, now their front-man's that kid from the Courtship of Eddie's Father!" Dave nodded.

"Yeah, what's next? Urkel joining the Wu-Tang Clan?" Lane exclaimed.

"Or maybe Malcolm in the Middle fronting for the Butthole Surfers?"

"Some things are sacred." Lane said.

"I'm with you on that." He laughed.

"So..uh..what's your band like?" She asked.

"We do a lot of cool covers. The Clash, the Kinks, etc. Statistically, it's like thirty-eight of the forty-three bands you listed." He joked.

"Nice percentage." Lane grinned.

"I can play you a song we demoed a couple weeks ago using a drum machine." He offered.

"Great." She said eagerly watching him take some audio equipment out of his bag. "What's all this?"

"Well, this is a headphone amp and it just boosts the volume and makes the clarity off the hook and then these are Grado 125s, which is just really, killer, killer portable sound. I'm sort of an audio geek, sorry." Dave smiled sheepishly.

"No, don't apologise, I love you! I mean for that, for being that way. I love it. Uh, I'm like that too." She said quickly.

"You want to go over to the bench maybe and have a listen?" He chuckled.

"Yeah." She smiled.

"Ok." He said and walked off with Lane.

"I think a love song's in their future." Rory grinned.

"Definitely!" Holly laughed.

"With lots of lyrics about snogging." Lorelai nodded.

They started walking back home, passing Luke who was having a rant with Taylor.

"I'm looking forward to that Soda Shop opening!" Holly grinned.

"It's driving Luke crazy already." Rory laughed.

"Now I'm even happier we persuaded him!" Lorelai grinned. She smiled at her daughters. "So good day huh?"

"Yeah it's been good." Rory nodded.

"Not bad." Holly smiled. She had already received a text from Carol joking about the party she was entertaining at and asking her if she was sure about working with kids.

"You and Carol seemed to hit it off." Lorelai noted.

"Yeah, she seems fun." She nodded.

"And you're calmer right? Darren basically said you were Harvard material and you were bound to get in." She smiled at Rory.

"Yeah. I still can't believe it. I can't believe we're actually applying for universities already." Rory admitted.

"Tell me about it!" Holly said.

"Well I'm a very proud mommy. One of my daughters going to Harvard and the other to New York. I'd say my job is pretty much done." Lorelai smiled.

"Hey, you ok?" Rory asked, noticing her sister go quiet.

Holly sighed and took a deep breath. "I..uh..I need to confess something."

"What?" Lorelai said.

"I..uh..I'm not just applying for New York universities." She said.

"I know that. You're applying to Michigan as well right?" Lorelai smiled.

"And Stanford..." Holly admitted.

"What?" Lorelai said shocked, stopping and turning to her daughter.

**So I hope you liked it! Please do keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think! :) Thanks again for all your support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much for all your reviews and your support! It really does mean so much to me. :) I've got so many ideas for this story so I hope you're enjoying it. :)**

Chapter 4

"I..uh..I've applied to Stanford." Holly admitted.

"Stanford? As in California?" Lorelai said shocked.

Holly sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but it does an amazing teaching program. It's well known for being the best for education. I know it's far but..." She said.

"Far? Holly, it's the other side of the country!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Did you know about this?" She asked Rory.

"First time I've heard about it." Rory said also a bit surprised by her sister's confession.

"I know! Don't you think I know that?" Holly exclaimed.

"I don't want you being that far away." She said stubbornly.

"You think I want to be that far away?" Holly said incredulously. "If Stanford was closer, it would be a much easier decision. You think this was easy for me?"

Lorelai sighed. "Let's talk at home." She said, noticing people looking over at them.

"Fine." Holly said crossing her arms against her chest.

The three of them walked home in silence and went into their house.

"If Harvard was the other side of the country, would you not want Rory applying there?" Holly spoke again.

"That's different." Lorelai said.

"How?"

"Because it's Harvard!"

Holly scoffed. "And Rory gets what Rory wants huh?"

"What's that meant to mean?" Rory frowned.

Holly just shook her head. "You're just upset that I applied somewhere without you knowing." She told her mom. "You're just upset I have my own mind and don't just want to follow what you want me to do."

"That's unfair." Lorelai said.

"No it's not, it's the truth! It's your way or no way. You don't want me to be friends with Jess so you try and bring up every negative attribute of his you can in the hope I will suddenly agree with you. You didn't like us growing close to Grandma and Grandpa and got insanely jealous that we were that you would start petty arguments with us, you don't want Rory applying to anywhere other than Harvard especially not Yale and now you don't want me going to Stanford even though it's by far the best program for what I want to do!" She exclaimed.

"Holly..." Lorelai said stunned.

"No! I'm done! Talk to me when you can actually be a mom and support me." Holly snapped storming to her room, slamming the door behind her. She let out a big breath and sat on her bed, putting her head in her hands. Why did she think it would be a good idea to tell her mom? She knew she would react like this. She picked up her cell and dialled a number. "Hey, do you fancy meeting up in the morning?" She asked.

* * *

Luke glanced over at Lorelai who was sat at the counter in the diner the following morning. "Ok, what's wrong?" He said.

"What?" Lorelai said looking up.

"You've not said one thing to deliberately annoy me today so I know something's wrong." Luke said.

Lorelai smiled slightly. He knew her so well. She sighed. "Holly wants to go to Stanford." She said.

"Stanford in California?" Luke said surprised.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "She applied without me knowing."

"Oh." Luke said understanding. "California...wow..." He said.

"And I freaked out and we had this big argument and she'd left by the time I was up this morning so I couldn't even speak to her about it." Lorelai said. "I know I overreacted, I do know that. It was just a shock. I thought she was really excited about going to New York."

"She was." Jess said passing them.

"What?" Lorelai said.

"She told me she was. But she knows Stanford is the best and the more she researched it, the more excited she got about it." He shrugged.

"She talked to you about this?" She frowned.

"Not much. But she admitted she wanted to go there when we were talking yesterday." Jess said.

"And let me guess, you told her to go for it right?" Lorelai said bitterly.

"If it's what she wants, yeah." Jess nodded. He glanced at her. "She's worried about how far away it is though. She's worried she will be homesick. Now I don't get the appeal of Stars Hollow personally, but I know this crazy town means something to her. She's worried about leaving it behind." He said.

"She said that?" Lorelai said surprised.

"You're seriously surprised about that?" Jess raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, less of the smart ass chat." Luke warned him.

"What? I know Lorelai hates me and she hates that I'm friends with Holly but even I know how much family means to Holly. If I speak badly of anyone, Holly's on my case." He shrugged. "I don't relate to your crazy close relationship." He told Lorelai. "But I know it means a lot to Holly. I told her it shouldn't hold her back though."

"Of course you did." Lorelai snapped.

"Am I wrong? Do you really want her to give up this amazing opportunity just because you'll miss her? There are things such as planes, you know. You'd still see her and she'd see you." He said.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" She snapped. "Encourage Holly to get as far away from her family as possible."

"You think you'll be the only one that will miss her?" Jess retorted. "I think you know probably as well as everyone else that I'm not exactly university material so I won't be seeing her either if she jets off to Stanford. Hey, maybe you should put that in your pro list." He grumbled before disappearing back upstairs.

"He has a point." Luke said.

"What?" Lorelai said shocked.

"Well...Stanford is a great univeristy. It would be an amazing opportunity for Holly." Luke said cautiously. "You must know that."

Lorelai sighed. "Yeah...I know..." She said. She groaned. "And I never thought I'd agree with anything Jess ever said!"

* * *

"I hope you didn't cancel any plans for me." Holly said as she sat in a cafe, drinking some coffee.

"No, not at all. Today was my day off anyway." Carol smiled. "So you and your mom still haven't talked huh?"

"I left before she woke up this morning." She admitted.

"Very mature." Carol teased.

Holly sighed. "I said some stuff, some hurtful stuff to her and...I don't know, maybe I did mean it but I still never wanted to hurt her." She said. "I should never have told her..."

"You know it would have come out eventually. Especially when you're accepted and you're getting ready to move to California." Carol pointed out.

"I guess." She conceded. "I just...I know she doesn't want me to be so far away. I don't want that either but...it's an amazing university. How come Rory gets her first choice but I can't have mine?"

"That's a fair point." Carol said looking thoughtful.

"What?" Holly said.

"Do you want some advice?" She said.

"Yes please." She said.

"I defy my parent's wishes daily. You think they wanted me doing what I do? Of course not! Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and I wouldn't change it at all but do I sometimes wish I could have a relationship with my parents? Of course. I wish they could support me like they support my brother and sister but I get nothing. Now from what you've told me, you've got this amazing close relationship between you, Rory and your mom..." Carol said.

"Yeah...we do." Holly sighed.

"Then don't screw it up. Trust me, I know what it's like to have no relationship with your parents and it sucks. I get that you want to go to Stanford and I believe if that's what you really want, you should go for it. But talk to your mom. Make her see your side of it. You never know, she might surprise you." She said.

Holly glanced at Carol and smiled slightly. "Ok, you are officially my go to person for advice." She joked.

Carol grinned. "Pleased to be of some assistance."

Holly laughed. "Seriously though, thanks. I needed this." She said sincerely.

"Well, thanks for asking me. It's actually cool to have a friend." Carol smiled.

"Let me pay for these and then I better be off." Holly said.

"Oh no, I can pay for mine." Carol said.

"I insist." Holly smiled. "Next time you can pay." She smirked.

Carol laughed. "Ok deal!"

* * *

Holly got back home later that afternoon and found her mom sat in the living room. "You're not working today?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk to you." Lorelai said.

"Mom..." Holly sighed.

"No, I mean it. No shouting, no freak outs, just talking. Calmly." Lorelai promised. "Please?"

Holly glanced at her before nodding and going to sit down next to her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Stanford. I was nervous to." She said quietly.

Lorelai sighed. "I never want you to be nervous about talking to me about anything. Ever. Ok?"

She just nodded.

Lorelai sighed again. "I appreciate your apology. And I want to say sorry about the freak out last night. You just caught me off guard, that's all. I mean, California...it's...well...California..." She said.

"I know." Holly said. She glanced at her mom. "It really does have an amazing teaching program though. I know it's far but so many students go there specifically for this course."

"I know." Lorelai said. "Oh kid, I'm going to miss you like hell." She said.

"Wait, what?" Holly said shocked.

"You were right. I should let you make your own decisions. I hated my parents for never letting me make my own choices and I never wanted to be like that for you or Rory. If this is what you really want, then I'll support you." She said softly.

"Seriously? What made you change your mind?" She asked.

"Well I spoke to Luke." She admitted.

"Of course." Holly smiled slightly.

"And you know how much sense he can talk into me. And well...Jess kind of talked some sense into me as well." She said.

"Jess?" She said stunned.

"I know. Did you ever believe I would actually agree with something Jess said?" Lorelai smirked slightly.

Holly grinned. "Nope, never."

"Seems like he would miss you a lot." Lorelai said glancing at her.

"He said that?" She said.

"Pretty much." She nodded. She sighed. "Look, the point is this would be an amazing opportunity for you and I shouldn't stand in your way. If you really want this..."

"I do." Holly said. "I really do." She said feeling more confident in her decision.

"Then I will support you." Lorelai smiled softly. "Doesn't mean I like you jetting off to the other side of the country though."

"I know." Holly smiled softly. "I'll miss you too."

"Come here." Lorelai said pulling her daughter into a hug. "You're going to do amazing things, you know that right?" She said softly.

"Thanks mom." She said, hugging her tightly. She pulled away after a moment. "I..uh..I just need to make a call but after, how about the three of us have a movie night?" She suggested.

Lorelai smiled tremulously. "Sounds like a great idea." She said.

Holly nodded before disappearing into her room. She got out her cell and rang a familiar number. "I owe you big time." She said into her phone, smiling softly.

**So I hope you liked it! :) Please do keep letting me know what you think! :) Thanks again for all your support. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for your continued support! I wanted to get something up for you guys as I might not be able to update for about a week as I will be with family for Easter weekend and probably won't have time to write, sorry! Hope you enjoy this chapter. :)**

Chapter 5

"I can't believe I agreed to this." Holly groaned to herself as she turned on the sprinklers outside her new neighbour's house. She sighed and sat on the steps for ten minutes while the grass was watered. She then got up and went to turn the sprinklers off but while she did that, she suddenly got soaked as the water came out more furiously. "Damn it!" Holly exclaimed trying to turn it off but it seemed to be stuck. "Urgh!" She exclaimed finding shelter on the house's steps and rang the first number that came to her mind. "Answer, please answer!" She said.

Jess arrived a few moments later. "Whoa!" He said darting through the water.

"I tried to turn it but I couldn't do it!" Holly exclaimed.

Jess took the stick from her and tugged at the switch, managing to turn it off.

"Oh." She said. "You made it look so easy."

"It was loose. You just had to press it down and give it a good twist, that's all." He said.

"Well, thanks. You just saved my ass." Holly said.

"I aim to please." Jess smirked.

"I'm sorry I got you soaked." She said smirking slightly.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that." Jess said dryly.

"Well maybe I'm not sorry about that but I am thankful. So thanks." Holly grinned.

"You're welcome." He said. "So...you still set on Stanford?" He asked as they started walking away from the house.

"Yep." She said.

"And your mom's cool with it now?"

"I wouldn't say cool but she's ok. Well as ok as she can be." Holly sighed.

Jess nodded. "Stanford will be lucky to have you."

Holly glanced at him. "Yeah?"

He glanced back at her and smiled slightly. "Yeah." He said.

"Thanks." She smiled.

* * *

Holly and Rory were sat at the counter of Luke's the next day eating burgers. "Don't you think you two should be pacing yourselves seeing as you're doing that crazy dance-athon tomorrow morning." Jess said appearing infront of them.

"Well seeing as you're not doing it, you have no reason to comment on that." Holly said.

"Ooh touchy." Jess smirked.

"Just saying." She shrugged.

"Just out of interest, are you still mad at me as well?" Rory asked.

"Why would I be?" Holly said.

"Because I told mom I'd dance with her and not you." Rory smiled sheepishly.

"Nah, it's cool. Do you know why? Because Carol and I are going to kick your asses." She grinned.

Rory laughed. "Tell that to mom!"

"I intend to!" Holly grinned.

"Hey, you know what, I might come by and watch you guys." Jess said.

"For the whole 24 hours?" Holly teased.

"Sure why not?" He shrugged. "Should be fun."

"You're seriously going to sit there for 24 hours just watching? You'll be so bored!" Holly laughed.

"I'm sure I can find something to entertain myself. Mocking you will do." Jess smirked.

"I still can't believe you will sit through the whole 24 hours." Holly said. "I bet you that you won't."

"You bet me what?" He said.

"That you won't be able to last the whole 24 hours."

"Ok let's make this interesting. What's the wager?" He smirked.

"Ok, you win and I will cover one of your shifts at the diner and I will buy you whatever book you want from Andrew's." Holly said.

"And if you win?" Jess raised his eyebrows.

"You buy me whatever book you want and...I get your car." She smirked.

"What?" Jess said surprised.

"Not so confident now huh?" Holly teased.

Jess looked at her for a moment before holding out his hands. "It's a bet." He said.

Holly grinned and shook his hand. "May the best person win!"

Jess rolled his eyes bus smiled slightly before disappearing back upstairs.

Holly glanced over at Rory who was looking at her. "What?" She said.

"I knew you were mad about the car." Rory smirked.

Holly smiled slightly. "Well...this does make me feel slightly better."

Rory laughed. "I knew you were mad."

* * *

The following morning, Lorelai, Rory, Holly and Carol were walking down the sidewalk toward Miss Patty's when Sookie ran up behind them.

"Hey, wait up!" Sookie said.

"Oh, wow, look at you!" Lorelai smiled at her friend.

"Is it fabulous?" Sookie grinned.

"It is fabulous." Lorelai grinned.

"Wait until you see Jackson's suit. It makes me want to ration sugar." She joked.

"Where is Jackson?" Holly asked.

"Oh, we already had our checkups so he's going to sign us in and scope out a good spot on the floor." She answered.

"Oh, it's so cool to be married. You have your own spot-scoper." Lorelai said.

"Well you have Rory." Holly said. "You should have had her be your spot-scoper. I mean, you did steal her from me so..." She smirked.

"You're always going to bring this up aren't you?" Lorelai said.

"Yep." Holly grinned.

"I'm going to go say hi to Lane." Rory said.

"Ooh me too! Come on, I'll introduce you." Holly told Carol.

"Right behind you." Carol smiled.

"Ok, hon, hurry back. Remember, the sooner we get inspected, the sooner we get coffee." Lorelai said.

"Yeah, coffee!" Rory said before the three of them headed off to find Lane. They soon found her stirring a big bucket. "Hey, you need any help?" Rory asked.

"It's ok. I finally got a really good footing." Lane said.

"What is that stuff?" Holly asked.

"Eggless egg salad. Though this year my mom added food colouring to make the egg-like product look more eggy." Lane said.

"Wow!" Carol said.

"Carol, Lane, Lane, Carol." Holly said.

"Hi!" Carol grinned.

"Nice to meet you." Lane smiled. "And guess what, every sandwich comes with your own personal pamphlet 'Dancing for the Devil,' an illustrated look at the effect of dancing on your chances of spending all eternity in hell." She smirked.

"Boy, her flames are getting really good." Rory said.

"Well, she just bought a new colour printer. You can do a ton of stuff with it."

"Cool." Holly said just as Mrs Kim walked over carrying several bags.

"Lane, get scooping! The minute air hits the bread, it starts to stale." She said.

"And this is Mrs Kim." Holly whispered to Carol.

"Ok, Mama." Lane said.

"I'm going to stop by later and say hi." Rory smiled.

"Please do." Lane said.

"Bye, Mrs. Kim." Rory said.

"You have a pamphlet?" She asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Take one to your mother." She said before walking off.

"Wow." Carol said again.

Holly laughed. "Lane, we'll catch you later." She said.

"You better." Lane said.

"Nice to meet you." Carol smiled.

"You too." Lane smiled.

Across the studio, Lorelai was next in line for physicals as they rushed over.

"Next." The nurse said.

"Oh good, just in time." Lorelai said spotting them.

* * *

"So...let's talk about Jess..." Carol said as she and Holly danced around the floor a few hours in.

"What about Jess?" Holly said glancing over to where Jess was sat on the benches.

"Well, was there any reason you failed to mention that you were friends with like the hottest guy?" Carol said.

"Jess? Really?" Holly said.

"Oh come on, don't say you don't think he's hot." She said. "Are you and him...you know?"

"What? No! Definitely not!" She exclaimed.

"Why are you so grossed out by that?" Carol laughed.

"Because it's...Jess!" Holly said.

"So? You seriously don't think he's hot?" She insisted.

Holly glanced over at Jess who gave her a mock salute. "He's...Jess." She repeated.

"That's not a no." Carol said smirking slightly.

"Look, if you think he's so hot, I can put a good word into him if you want." Holly teased.

Carol grinned. "Normally I would say yes please but nah, I'm not one to go after other people's guys."

"He's not my guy!" She exclaimed.

"You keep telling yourself that." She said.

Holly just shook her head. "You're crazy." She laughed.

"Uh huh, if you two aren't more than friends then why is he even here and why hasn't he been watching anyone else but you since we started?" Carol questioned.

"Because we had a bet. He's just trying to prove a point. And annoy me. He likes annoying me." Holly said.

"Uh huh." She smirked.

"Carol..."

"Alright fine, I'll drop it." She laughed.

"Thank you." She exclaimed.

"For now." She grinned.

Holly rolled her eyes but glanced over at Jess one last time before focusing back on the dancing.

* * *

"So what do you need to do?" Carol asked as she glanced over at Lorelai holding the trophy up in triumph and Kirk storming off, smiling slightly. "This town is really quite something. Your mom is crazy!"

Holly laughed. "Yep and yep!"

"So what was the bet? Jess lasted the whole time so I'm guessing you lost? What do you have to do?" She asked.

"Cover one of his shifts at the diner and buy him a book." Holly said.

"No kissing then? No buying him a meal?" Carol teased. She grinned when Holly gave her a look. "Alright I'll stop. I think you're being crazy but I'll stop."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Thanks for coming. Thanks for doing this. I know it was crazy but as you said, this town is crazy." She laughed.

"I loved it. Really! Thanks for inviting me." She smiled.

"I'll call you?" Holly smiled.

"Sure. But maybe not for a few days because that's how long I will be sleeping for." She joked.

"Oh yeah, me too!" She laughed.

"See ya around." Carol grinned.

"See ya." Holly grinned, watching her leave.

"Hey." A voice said suddenly beside her.

"Hey back." Holly said. "So...you survived."

"Told you I would." Jess said.

"You did." She nodded.

"So...the bet..."

"Don't worry, I will keep to my deal. Did you think I wouldn't?"

"Nope." He said.

"Ok then."

"Ok then." Jess repeated. He glanced at her. "You were mad about the car, weren't you?" He said after a moment.

Holly smiled slightly. "I was. Maybe for a moment. But not now." She said. She glanced at him. "What?" She said. "You did wreck mine." She pointed out.

"Yeah..." He sighed.

Holly glanced at him. "It was silly, I know. I know you didn't mean to wreck my car. It was an accident. I know that." She said. "I'm sorry."

"I was going to give you the car." Jess said.

"What?" She said shocked.

"I felt bad about your car so..I was going to do up this car and give it to you as a graduation gift." He admitted. He noticed her stop. "What?"

"You were seriously going to just...give me that car?" She said touched.

"Well...yeah..." Jess said.

"That's...that's so...generous."

"Well...yeah...but I owe you." He shrugged.

She sighed. "You don't owe me anything. You bought that car with your own money. You should keep it." She said.

"I'd rather give it to you." He said. "It will give you something to remember me by when you ship off to California."

Holly glanced at him. "Yeah...I guess.." She said.

Jess nodded. "I...should get back." He said.

"Yeah...I should get home or I'll probably end up falling asleep on the sidewalk." She joked.

Jess smirked. "That would be quite a picture." He said.

Holly smirked. "I'm sure." She said.

Jess smiled. "Night Holly." He said starting to walk away.

"Hey Jess?" Holly said.

"Yeah?"

"You know, I'm pretty sure I will remember you with or without your car." She smiled softly.

Jess looked at her for a moment. "Yeah?" He said.

"Hey, who could forget Jess Mariano?" She joked.

Jess smiled slightly. "You'd be surprised." He said.

Holly smiled at him. "Well I won't." She assured him. "See you tomorrow?" She said.

"Yeah." He said softly. "See you tomorrow."

"Night Jess."

"Night Holly." He said giving her another mock salute before turning round and heading back to the diner.

Holly watched him go before sighing and slowly turning round and starting to head home.

**I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think. Thanks again for all your support! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**So I managed to find some time to write! Thank you for your continued support and I hope you like this chapter! :)**

Chapter 6

Holly walked into Rory's room and saw her quickly put down a Yale brochure she had picked up on their spontaneous trip to Yale yesterday with their grandparents. "You liked it, didn't you?" She said.

"I want to go to Harvard." Rory said.

"That wasn't my question." Holly said.

Rory sighed. "I just...don't want to upset mom."

"Ror, mom just wants you to be happy. I'm sure she'd get over it." She said.

"I know. I just...don't want to cause arguments between her and Grandma and Grandpa again. It was all going so well yesterday and then Grandpa had to make that meeting." Rory sighed.

"He shouldn't have done that without asking you." Holly said. "Mom was right to be angry."

"I was angry too." Rory pointed out.

"I know. That's why I didn't go to my meeting." Holly said. "He shouldn't have sprung it on us like that. He knew how mom would react."

"Yeah..."

Holly glanced at her sister. "You couldn't help but like it though, could you?" She said.

Rory glanced at her. "I guess...It was a lovely campus..."

She nodded. "It was beautiful."

"But I want to go to Harvard." She said firmly.

"Ok."

Rory glanced at her. "I mean it. Harvard has been my goal since I was four."

"I know." Holly nodded. "I'll leave you to it. I need to go make good on my bet with Jess and cover his shift at the diner." She said.

"Ok." She said.

Holly glanced at her as she left. "If it helps, I'm pretty sure I caught mom reading the Yale brochure she picked up as well." She said.

"Really?"

"She may not be so against it as you think." Holly smiled softly. "See you later."

"Yeah, see you..." Rory said.

* * *

"What's everybody doing for Thanksgiving?" Rory asked as she, Holly, Paris, Louise and Madeline packed up after a lesson.

"I can't even talk about Thanksgiving." Paris said.

"Louise?" Rory asked.

"I'm having dinner with my dad." She said.

"Isn't he still in jail?" Madeline asked.

"Yes, but his company donated some treadmills for the inmates so he swung a special trailer for dinner that they're going to set it up for us in the parking lot. We have it for about two hours and then one of the Manson girls gets us." Louise said.

"You're lucky it's in that order." Madeline said.

"Sounds great." Holly said smirking slightly.

"My Thanksgiving is turning into a Wes Craven movie." Paris complained.

"How so?" Rory asked.

"I called shelters to volunteer to serve food. It's Thanksgiving, you'd think they have needs. Nope. Every stupid soup kitchen in town turned me down because they have enough volunteers." She said.

"Bummer." Madeline said. Holly exchanged a Look with Madeline and stifled a laugh.

"I'm on a couple waiting lists but it doesn't look good." Paris said.

"I've never heard of too many volunteers." Holly said.

"Who are all these jackasses who volunteered anyway? They can't all be students like me. They're not all putting it on a college application. I get something out of it and these other people don't get a thing. Talk about selfish." Paris snapped.

"What are you up to, Madeline?" Holly asked.

"I've got more college applications to fill out. Backups, safety schools." She said.

"I've got some of that, too. I'm so behind." Louise said.

"I told you guys to have those things done by now." Paris said.

"Sorry, Mom." Louise said sarcastically.

"It's not about being sorry. It's about being prepared. I got Harvard and my backups in weeks ago." She said.

"Ok, all you're doing is making me more nervous. I'll see you guys Monday." Madeline said.

"Same here." Louise said.

"See you guys Monday." Holly smirked.

"Harvard is going to be expecting Thanksgiving shelter work. They'll know I called too late and it will totally impugn my organizational skills. By the way, you know I ultimately do all these things for the good of mankind, right?" Paris said.

"Oh yeah." Rory said.

"Sometimes I don't think I come off that way." Paris said.

"Shocking." Holly joked as Paris got a call from another shelter. "I think we should leave her to it." She whispered to Rory.

Rory smiled slightly. "I think you're right. Let's go."

* * *

"How are we going to go to four Thanksgiving dinners?" Rory said as she, Lorelai and Holly headed to Luke's later that day after Lorelai explained that her mother had shanghaied her into dinner with them.

"It's not four, is it?" She said.

"Lane's house, Sookie's and we always stop by Luke's. That's three and Grandma and Grandpa is four." Rory said.

"Ah, well we're mad." Lorelai joked.

"We're us." Holly joked.

"Well, we've got to go to my parents' or we'll be brought up on war crimes. Lane's is always super early so that's easy to catch. Sookie's is mid afternoon." Lorelai said.

"Luke's the toughie." Rory nodded.

"Guess that's the one we'll have to skip." Lorelai said.

Holly glanced up. "What? No! We can't skip Luke's. His is the main event!" She said.

"Yeah but it's in the middle of everything. We won't be able to make it." Lorelai said.

"We always go to Luke's! It's tradition! He'll expect us to come!" Holly exclaimed.

"I know hon, but he won't care. Holidays are nothing to him anyway." Lorelai assured her as they entered Luke's.

"Yeah, well I care." Holly mumbled under her breath.

"Hey. Anywhere?" Lorelai asked Luke as he passed them.

"Anywhere." He said.

"Hmm, would you mind moving?" Lorelai asked a couple already sat at a table.

"I hate when you do that." He said as he led her away from the couple.

"It's my showstopper!" Lorelai grinned.

"An empty table." Luke rolled his eyes.

"Ohhh, well you should have said!" She grinned. "You ready to order?" She asked her daughters as they sat down at an empty table.

"I'm ready." Rory nodded.

"Me too." Holly said.

"Don't bother, saw you coming, already ordered your Wednesday usual. The French dip, extra fries, the every-Wednesday cherry pie." Luke said.

"Such service!" Rory grinned.

"We always get this service." Holly mumbled.

Lorelai glanced at her daughter oddly. "Thanks Luke." She smiled. "Ok what's wrong?" She said.

"Nothing." She said.

"Is it because we can't come here for Thanksgiving? Because we've been through this..." Lorelai sighed.

"No, you went through it. And don't pretend you're secretly glad because not coming here will mean you won't have to invite Jess to the table." Holly snapped.

"Holly..." Lorelai said surprised.

"Just forget it, ok? It will be my last Thanksgiving here before I go to college. I might not be able to get back for it for a while. But no, you don't care about that." Holly grumbled.

"Right, here's your food." Luke said returning to the table. "I've got to get back to stuffing my turkey." He smiled.

"Don't bother." Holly said.

"What?" Luke said confused.

Lorelai sighed. "What if we told you you could stuff one less?" She said.

"What do you mean?" Luke said.

"We got jammed. Shanghaied by my mother and what with the other things we have going, well, too many commitments, not enough us." Lorelai said.

"So?" He said.

"We can't make it tomorrow." Holly said glancing at him. "Sorry..."

"Oh..." He said. "Ok, fine."

"It was beyond our control." Lorelai said.

"That's fine, whatever. I'll be right back with your coffee." He said walking away.

"Told you he'd care." Holly said.

"Ok, I may be crazy but he almost looked..." Lorelai said surprised.

"Disappointed." Rory said.

"Yes, disappointed. We disappointed Luke." Lorelai said surprised.

"I didn't think it was possible." Rory said. "He actually likes it when we come for Thanksgiving. All these years and we never knew."

"Told you..." Holly said.

"Hmm, he's the Grinch and we're Cindy Lou Who." Lorelai joked.

"So Cindy Lou, what do we do?" Rory joked.

"I got it." Lorelai said picking up her phone and pretending to talk into it as Luke walked back to the table.

Holly glanced up at her. "What are you doing?" She said.

"Oh...uh...perfect." She said I to the phone, putting a finger up to Holly to shush her.

"Yeah, that works great. Ok, bye now." She said hanging up. "Sorry, I'm just clarifying the schedule for tomorrow. As luck has it, we can make it. We'll definitely be here." She smiled up at Luke.

"It's ok." Luke said.

"No, it's all cleared. That was my mom and...uh...the time's just going to work out just fine." Lorelai said.

"It is?" Holly asked.

"Yep!" Lorelai smiled.

"Really, you don't have to. I already stopped prepping the last turkey." Luke said.

"Well, start prepping it again because we are coming. And we can't wait, right girls?" She smiled at her daughters.

"Right." Rory smiled.

"Nothing will keep us away." Holly smiled, perking up.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to come." Luke said.

"This is tiring." She said.

"I can kneel behind him and you can push him over." Rory joked.

"It may come to that." Lorelai grinned.

"It won't be a hassle?" Luke checked.

"It won't be a hassle."

"You sure?"

"We're coming, now go away and let us eat. Shoo, shoo!" Lorelai grinned.

Luke smiled at them before walking away.

Holly glanced at her mom. "Thanks." She said softly.

"Well, I can't disappoint my daughter and Luke, can I?" Lorelai smiled.

Holly smiled. "Thanks." She said again.

"Practical question though, how are we going to eat four Thanksgiving dinners?" Rory asked.

"How? Rory, what are we if not world champion eaters?" Lorelai joked.

"It's too much food." Rory said.

"No such thing!" Holly grinned.

"We'll be fine! Now let's eat!" Lorelai declared.

* * *

"Poor Sookie!" Holly said as they headed for Luke's the following afternoon.

"Ah, she won't remember it in the morning. She'll be fine." Lorelai joked. "Hey everybody." She smiled as they entered the diner. "Hey!" She said as Luke approached them.

"Hey." He smiled at them.

"Here." Rory said handing him some flowers.

"What's this?" Luke said.

"Flowers." Rory said.

"What do I do with them?" He said.

"Urgh, not this again." Lorelai said.

"Put them in a vase with water." Holly smirked.

"I don't have a vase." Luke said.

"You do this every year!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"And they love it." Holly whispered to Rory who grinned.

"I don't have vases." Luke continued.

"Buy a vase!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"But I don't need a vase because I never have flowers!"

"Except when we bring you flowers every year on Thanksgiving! Buy a vase!"

"Stop bringing me flowers!"

"Stop bringing me flowers. I knew you were going to say that because you say the same thing. We have this same exact conversation every year!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"And every year you point that out." He said.

"And every year you point that out."

"And every year you point that out."

"And then every year we put the flowers on the counter and forget the ugliness ever happened." Rory interrupted.

"Well, at least we have a tradition." Lorelai grinned.

"Good. I'll be right back. That's our table over there." Luke smiled slightly gesturing to a table.

The three of them walked over to it as Jess walked up. "Hey." He said.

"Hey!" Holly smiled.

"Hi Jess!" Rory smiled.

Lorelai glanced at Holly who's face had lit up and sighed. She took a deep breath before forcing a smile. "Hi, Happy Thanksgiving. So, are you joining us?" She asked surprising everyone.

"Really?" Holly said.

"I asked, didn't I?" Lorelai said.

"Uh...sure, if that's ok." Jess said surprised.

"Yeah, come on sit down. Before I change my mind." She said joking slightly as Luke came over then with their plates of food.

"Good, I'm starved." Jess said sitting down next to Holly.

"You could have eaten." Luke said.

"You kept telling me not to eat!" Jess exclaimed.

"I did not." He scoffed.

"You did too. You said you were waiting for them." Jess said.

"Aw, you didn't have to wait for us." Lorelai smiled.

"I wasn't waiting for you, it just worked out this way." Luke tried to shrug it off.

"Right." Jess said. "He totally was." He whispered to Holly who grinned.

"Looks great." Rory said.

"Tasty." Lorelai smiled.

"Shouldn't we give thanks first?" Luke said taking the seat next to Lorelai.

"Thanks for what?" Jess said.

"Well, that we're not Native Americans who got their land stolen in exchange for smallpox infested blankets." Luke said.

"Amen." Lorelai said before tucking into the food.

"So where are you guys in your day?" Luke asked.

"We hit the Kim's, we hit Sookie's and we go to the grandparents from here." Rory said.

"Full day." Lorelai nodded.

"Yeah. Well, you can skip eating this one if you want. Just have cokes or something, it's no big deal." Luke said.

"No, no way, you're the main event today, my friend." Lorelai smiled at him.

Luke glanced at her and smiled slightly. "Oh ok, good." He said.

"They should get a room." Jess whispered to Holly, smirking.

"Shhh!" She said but smiled slightly.

"What's good are the yams." Rory said.

"Definitely.! Got some more marshmallows?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, I can grab some." Luke said. He glanced at Jess. "Hey, refill some coffees." He said.

Jess rolled his eyes but got up. "Be right back." He said.

* * *

Later that evening, Lorelai, Rory and Holly were walking through the square after a disastrous dinner at the grandparents.

"Are you mad?" Rory asked quietly.

"No, I'm not mad." Lorelai said.

"You seem mad." She said.

"I'm not mad." She repeated.

"What are you feeling?" Rory asked hesitantly.

"I wouldn't know how to word it." Lorelai admitted.

"Try."

Lorelai sighed and stopped for a moment. "See, my head knows that whichever one of these places you go, Harvard, Princeton...or Yale, it's going to be great. It's going to be awesome and you're going to come out on the other side an even more amazing you. But I just wish my head could sit down and have a chat with that gnawing feeling in my gut that's there every time my parents get involved in anything and tell it, it's going to be ok." She said.

"Hear hear!" Holly smiled.

"It's going to be ok." Rory said.

"Nice try." Lorelai smirked slightly as Rory's pager went off. "Who's that?" She asked.

"It's Lane. It just says 'bible kiss bible'." Rory said confused.

"What does that mean?" Holly frowned.

"I have no idea. Good band name, though." She joked.

They headed towards the diner where Luke and Jess walked out, Jess carrying a garbage bag. "Get more trash cans." Jess was grumbling.

"I don't need more." Luke said.

"You make me run around town for a place to dump this!" Jess exclaimed.

"Just dump it in one of Taylor's bins. It gets it out of here and it'll drive Taylor crazy. It's a win-win." Luke said.

"Hi guys!" Lorelai smiled.

"We're out of food." Luke said.

"Oh, please, we're not eating for a year!" Lorelai said dramatically.

"Or until tomorrow morning." Holly quipped. "Hi, Saint Nick!" She grinned at Jess.

"Tell him he needs to get more trash cans." Jess grumbled.

"Just go." Luke said.

"You got any coffee?" Lorelai asked.

"That I've got. Come on in." He said following them inside. "Hey, did I see flames coming from Sookie's place about a half hour ago?" He said.

"Yeah, why?" Lorelai said casually walking up to the counter.

"Forget I asked." He rolled his eyes. "So, how did the four dinners work out? You guys must feel more stuffed than you've ever been." He said.

"I don't know. Is this more stuffed than the great Six Flags hot dog consumption of '99?" She asked her daughters.

"No, or the taffy binge of '97." Rory said.

"Not by a long shot!" Holly grinned.

"See, we didn't eat at my parents because of the upset so we really had three dinners, not four." Lorelai explained.

"Which means..." Rory said.

"What?" Lorelai said.

"We didn't have to skip rolls." Holly said.

"Oh yeah! Hey, do you have any rolls left?" Lorelai grinned at Luke.

"Oh come on!" Luke said.

"Just a little something for the walk home." She grinned.

"I don't see how you do it." Luke shook his head, smirking slightly.

"Well, you're not us, are you?" She joked.

"I guess not. But sorry, no rolls left." He said.

"Damn!" Lorelai sighed. "Save me a doughnut in the morning then?"

"That I can do." He said.

"Night Luke!" She grinned.

"Night." He smiled watching them leave.

* * *

The three of them walked past the gazebo.

"This has been a nice Thanksgiving." Lorelei smiled.

"Very." Rory nodded.

"Yeah it's been good." Holly smiled, spotting Jess standing by the wall across the road.

"Hey, I'll catch you up ok?" She said.

Lorelai followed her gaze and sighed. "Ok hon." She said.

Rory glanced at her mom as she watched Holly cross the road towards Jess. "Mom, he really isn't as bad as you think." She said.

"Uh huh." Lorelai said unconvinced. Rory sighed. "They're friends. They have things in common. I've not seen her this close to anyone for ages. I mean I know we've got Lane but she's both of our's friend." She said. "It's nice to see Holly have a good friend. I mean you want her to be happy right?"

"Sure..." Lorelai said.

She sighed again. "Look, Holly's going to be heading to California soon and I'm guessing Jess won't be following so you can stop worrying." She said.

"I guess..." She said. She sighed. "You're right. I guess that's a good thing about her going to Stanford..."

Rory glanced over at her sister and Jess before walking off with her mom.

"So good Thanksgiving?" Holly said.

"Not bad." Jess said. "Here." He said handing her a bag of rolls.

"Oh my god, you're an angel!" Holly exclaimed, grinning.

"Well, I knew you'd still be hungry." He smirked. "I grabbed these before Luke could give them away."

"Thanks!" Holly laughed.

"So how was your Thanksgiving?" He asked.

"Ups and downs but overall good. Although that may have gone up to great now." She joked.

"Glad to help." Jess joked.

"I better go. See you tomorrow?" She smiled.

"Seems likely." He nodded.

"Night Saint Nick!" She grinned.

"Night." Jess smirked, watching her walk off.

**So I hope you liked it! Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think. :) Thanks again for all your support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for all your support! :) Here's the next chapter!**

Chapter 7

A few months had passed in Stars Hollow and quite a few things had happened in the lives of the Gilmores. The winter term at Chilton had passed by for Holly and Rory. Paris and Rory had fallen out over a misunderstanding but had made up after it had come out that Paris hadn't gotten into Harvard and Rory was there to comfort her. Holly and Rory had also found out that their dad had become a dad again and they were actually at the hospital with Sherry while she was in labour so they finally made up with their dad as well. Lorelai had gone on some casual dates during the few months as well but they didn't really come to anything whilst Luke had started a relationship with Nicole.

Lorelai, Rory and Holly were sat at a table in Luke's with several pieces of papers laid out infront of them. "Ok, let's see. Looks like Harvard definitely has the smallest class sizes." Lorelai said.

"Ok, we've got our first entry here. It's a pro for Harvard." Rory said.

"Oh whoa! Those are not the final official pro/con lists!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Why? What's wrong with them?" Holly said.

"Well, the lines are crooked, the printing's all sloppy. Harvard, Princeton and Yale can't see them looking like that." She said.

"They're not going to see our pro/con lists." Rory rolled her eyes.

"What if they subpoena them?"

"Then I'll roll them up in a ball and eat them."

"Oh look, a big pro for Yale, they have 1100 members of the maintenance staff!" Holly joked.

"All three of these places probably have the same number." Rory smirked.

"But Yale must be crowing about it for some reason. Princeton might only have two." Holly grinned.

"Two? Two for the whole of Princeton?"

"Alright, I feel like you two are mocking me." Lorelai pouted as Luke walked up to the table.

"What's with the lists?" Luke said.

"You ready?" She grinned. "My Rory, our Rory, Stars Hollow's Rory...got into Harvard, Princeton, and Yale."

"Wow!" Luke exclaimed, smiling. "I can't believe it. You...wow!" He said.

"Yeah." Rory ducked her head modestly, giving him a small smile.

"I..uh.." Luke said before giving her an awkward hug.

"I got into Stanford as well if anyone's interested." Holly said but with a slight smirk.

"Holly, that's great news! Congratulations." Luke smiled at her.

"Thanks." Holly smiled. "I'll take a high five instead of a hug though." She joked.

Luke smiled slightly and gave her a high five. "Really, this is amazing. Well done!"

"Thanks Luke." Rory smiled.

"Yeah, thanks Luke." Holly smiled.

"You know...uh...Jess also...well, it's so tiny compared to this, it's going to sound dumb." Luke said.

"What is it?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, you know how Jess works at Wal-Mart?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Well, it seems he was actually chosen Employee of the Month." Luke said proudly.

"That's so cool!" Holly said.

"Yeah. I mean, there's probably hundreds of people working at that branch and they singled him out." Luke said. "He didn't even tell me about it. I got a letter addressed to the family of Jess Mariano inviting me down to some little ceremony they're having."

"Are you going?" Lorelai grinned.

"Oh, he'd hate it if I was there. You know, seeing him participating in some corporate ceremony like that, being called upstanding and responsible, it would kill him." Luke said. "Yeah, I'm going." He smiled.

"That's so cool!" Holly grinned. "We've got to get to school. But tell him congrats from me, yeah?" She said.

"Sure." He nodded. "And congratulations again. Both of you."

* * *

Holly followed Lorelai and Sookie into the diner the following morning and watched as her mom managed to talk Luke round to letting Sookie take charge of the kitchen. She spotted Jess at the end of the counter reading a book. She went over to him. "Hey." She said.

"Hey." He said. "What's going on?" He asked nodding towards Sookie.

"We had a fire." Holly said.

"A fire?" Jess said surprised.

"At the inn. We need some place for the guests to have breakfast." Holly sighed. "We don't know how bad the damage is."

"That sucks." Jess said. "How's your mom taking it?" He said. He saw Holly looking at him. "What? I am able to be nice you know." He said.

Holly smiled slightly. "I don't know. She's hard to read sometimes. I think at the moment her priority is just looking after the guests and then worrying about what comes next later." She said.

"Sounds fair." He nodded.

"So I hear you're Employee of the Month." She grinned.

"Ah geez, he told you?" Jess groaned. "Did you also know he was going to show up at the ceremony?"

"Maybe." She said.

"You couldn't have warned me?" He said.

"Hey, he was proud of you. It's sweet." Holly smiled.

"Whatever.." Jess grumbled.

"Hey Hol, Rory is outside with the kids. Could you maybe go and help her?" Lorelai called over.

"Sure!" Holly smiled. She turned to Jess. "Want to come entertain some kids?" She grinned.

"I'd rather stick needles in my eyes." He said dryly.

"Lovely." She smirked. "See you later then."

"See ya." Jess smirked.

* * *

"So, who do you have staying in your room?" Rory asked as she helped Lane make up beds for her downstairs in Lane's house.

"The second Poe and his wife." Lane said.

"Well, for your sake, I hope they are very, very tired." Rory joked.

"Why?" She said confused.

"Nothing. Forget it." Rory said as her cell rang. "Hello?" She answered.

"We're nomads!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"What?"

"We are the lonely wanderers. Hank Williams would be too sad to write a song about us." Lorelai said.

"Where are you?"

"We're walking aimlessly around town. The stupid Hattlestads showed up!" Lorelai sighed. "So we've not got a bed."

"Go to Luke's." Rory said.

"That's what your sister suggested but I don't know..." She said.

"I'm cold!" Holly called from beside their mom.

"Mom, just go to Luke's." Rory laughed. "You know he'll let you in."

"I guess..."

"And it will be warm. And not the streets." She pointed out.

"He'll make us eat a veggie burger." She said.

"Bye mom." Rory rolled her eyes.

"Bye." Lorelai said hanging up.

"What's going on?" Lane asked as Rory hung up.

"The Hattlestads showed up so mom and Holly are homeless." Rory said.

"Oh dear." Lane said. "So they're going to Luke's?"

"Yep."

"Bet Holly will be glad to share a room with Jess." Lane smiled slightly.

"What do you mean?" Rory said.

"Come on, don't say you haven't noticed the chemistry between her and Jess." She said.

"Well...I guess...but Holly closes up whenever I tease her about it. I don't know how she feels about him." Rory shrugged.

"Oh they like each other. It's so obvious!" Lane laughed.

"Maybe..."

Lane glanced at her. "Any guys on the horizon for you?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm just focusing on finishing at Chilton." Rory said.

"Sounds sensible." She said.

"You and Dave are going well though right?" She asked.

Lane smiled. "We're great. He's...great." She said.

Rory smiled. "I'm so happy for you guys. You deserve to be happy, Lane."

"Thanks." She smiled softly.

* * *

"So that's awkward..." Jess commented as he and Holly stood on Jess' side of the apartment watching as Luke and Lorelai awkwardly talk about Nicole who had just rung.

"Hmm..." Holly said. "So...are Luke and Nicole going well then? He seems happy with her."

"I don't know." Jess shrugged. "I think so. He seems to like her."

"Yeah...we saw her with him at the recent town meeting. Mom's so jealous of her." Holly smiled slightly.

"Well Luke was jealous whenever your mom brought up Alex." Jess said.

"They should just admit how they feel and get together." She sighed.

"What fun would that be?" He smirked.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you don't mind me taking your bed? I don't mind the floor." She said.

"Luke would kill me if I made you sleep on the floor." Jess said.

She smiled. "Well...thanks." She said, lying down on the bed.

"No problem." He said lying down on the mattress on the floor. "So...I hear Stanford accepted you..."

"Yep." Holly said.

"You must be excited."

"Kind of..."

"Kind of?" He said glancing at her.

Holly sighed. "I just don't know if it's too much. It's so far away and...well, the places in New York are great too..." She said.

Jess sat up. "Are you kidding?"

"What?" She said confused.

"You have to go to Stanford." He said.

"Why?"

"Because you deserve to go to Stanford. You'll be amazing there. You have to go." Jess said.

"I just...I'm scared." She admitted. "Now I've actually been accepted, it seems so real." She sighed. "What if I get too homesick?"

Jess sighed. "You can't let that hold you back. Hol, you belong at Stanford. You'll be great."

"You really think so?" Holly said quietly, biting her lip slightly.

"Yup."

"Thanks." She said softly. "I guess...I needed to hear that. I know if I told mom about my doubts, she'd use it as an excuse to talk me out of it."

"Glad to be of assistance." He said. "Hey, have you read this book yet?" He asked holding up a book.

"No, is it good?" She asked.

"Have a read of the back. It's good so far." Jess said getting up and handing it to her, lying down next to her as he waited for her to read it.

"Sounds cool." Holly said opening the first page.

"Uh, I haven't finished reading it yet." He said.

"I'm just getting a feel of it." She grinned.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Well tell me when you have." He said closing his eyes for a minute.

Before they knew it, they were waking up in the morning and they were still in the same position. Jess glanced across to see Holly smiling hesitantly at him.

"I guess we fell asleep." She said.

"I guess we did." Jess said slowly.

Holly got up and moved away. "Uh...I better head downstairs. I've got school soon."

"Sure." He nodded.

"I guess I'll..uh..see you later..." She said.

"Yup." Jess said.

"See ya." Holly said, quickly making her exit.

"See ya." He sighed as he watched her disappear from the apartment.

* * *

Rory walked into her room that morning at home to collect her school things but stopped when she found her room redecorated. All her Harvard paraphernalia had been replaced by Yale's. She smiled softly as she looked through it all, realising her mom must have done this early this morning. She knew it was her way of saying it was ok for her to go to Yale. She heard footsteps behind her and smiled as Holly entered.

"She did it for you too, huh?" Holly said.

"She did it for you?" Rory asked.

"Stanford stuff all pinned up on my wall." Holly smiled softly.

"I think this is her way of saying she's proud of us." Rory smiled.

"Seems like it." Holly said. "I can't believe it. I'm going to Stanford..."

"And I'm going to Yale..." Rory said. She smiled at her sister. "Start of a new era huh?"

"Start of a new era." Holly smiled, putting her arm round Rory.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lorelai had finally been let into the inn to see the damage. She stood just inside the doorway and she felt like she couldn't move. Everything was destroyed. Everything was ruined. She glanced at Sookie and Michel who were looking as shocked as her with the damage they could see. She glanced around again, wondering how they were ever going to come back from this.

**So I hope you like this! :) Please keep the reviews coming. I really do appreciate every comment you leave so thank you! Thanks again for all your support! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for your continued support! I hope you're enjoying this as I have so many ideas for it. :) Here's the next chapter!**

Chapter 8

It was nearing the end of Rory and Holly's last term at Chilton and they were going to a party at Kyle's house tonight, where Lane's band was playing. Lorelai, Rory and Holly were sat at the counter at Luke's.

"Hey guys." Luke smiled coming over. He frowned as Lorelai took a photo of him with her new camera. "Was that necessary?" He sighed.

"Oh man, you do not photograph well!" Lorelai laughed.

"What?" He said.

"You've been getting some sleep, brother? Because that's forty miles bad running." She joked.

"I wasn't ready. Plus, it was a bad angle. Plus, this is a harsh light. A soft light would help with the thing with the eyes." He said glancing at the photo.

"Look who knows what light he looks best in." She teased as Holly took hold of the camera.

"Say cheese!" Holly grinned as she took a photo of Jess who had just appeared.

"Seriously?" Jess groaned.

"Wow, you and Luke are so alike!" She laughed.

"I'm going to school." Jess said.

"This early?" Luke asked.

"Got a project to do." He said.

"Oh. Ok." Luke said watching him leave the diner. "Are you guys ready to order?"

"I'm going to take a picture of the menu and then order off the camera." Lorelai grinned.

"Yell when she's tired of the thing." He told Rory and Holly.

"Give it time." Rory smirked.

"Oh hey, how's it going with the inn?" Luke asked.

Lorelai sighed. "We had to close three more rooms. I honestly don't know what's going to happen."

"I'm sorry." He said. "Look, if you need anything..."

"Thanks Luke." She smiled softly.

* * *

That evening, Rory, Holly and Jess were sat in the living room of Kyle's living room watching Lane's band set up and sound check.

"They're sounding good." Rory said.

"Yeah, they're great!" Holly smiled. "Right?" She said to Jess.

"Sound like a band to me." He said.

"I think it's sweet you came early to support Lane." Holly said.

"You made me come early." He mumbled.

Holly frowned. "You could have said no."

"You're kind of hard to say no to." Jess mumbled.

"You have before." She pointed out.

He just shrugged.

"So, how how do we sound?" Lane said rushing up to them.

"Amazing!" Rory gushed.

"Yeah, really really great!" Holly nodded.

"Aw thanks!" She grinned. "I'm so excited. We actually have a gig. I know it's not a real gig but still!"

"You're going to do great!" Rory smiled.

"Thanks." Lane smiled.

Later that night, Holly was wandering around the party, smiling as lots of people were rocking out to Lane's band who was already onto their second set and it was going down really well. She turned the corner and bumped into two familiar people. "Whoa, sorry!" She said.

"No problem." Dean smiled.

"Oh hey!" Holly smiled at Dean and Lindsey. "Enjoying the party?"

"Yeah, it's cool." Dean nodded. "Lane's band is great."

"Isn't it?" She grinned. "What do you think, Lindsey?"

"Well...I don't really know a lot of the music they cover. But I liked them." She smiled.

"She's not a music freak like you and Rory." Dean joked.

"Well we can't all be freaks." Holly laughed. "So what music do you like?" She asked Lindsey.

"Uh..Michelle Branch, Matchbox 20..." Lindsey said.

"Geez..." A voice said next to Holly.

Holly looked and frowned at Jess. "What?"

"Nothing." He said.

"You used to go to our school." Lindsey said.

"He still goes." Holly said confused.

"Really? I haven't seen you a lot." Dean said.

"What are you, the attendance monitor?" Jess grumbled before walking off.

Holly watched him head upstairs before glancing at Dean and Lindsey. "So..uh..enjoy the rest of the party." She said.

"You too." Dean smiled.

She watched them leave before glancing at the stairs. She glanced round and saw Rory chatting with Lane as she finished her set so she slowly headed towards the stairs and went upstairs. She walked along the hallway and opened a door. She found Jess sitting into an armchair in a bedroom. "Are you supposed to be up here?" She asked.

"Probably not." He said.

Holly walked in slowly. "So, are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"

"Nothing." Jess mumbled.

"Really? Because your face says another story." She said.

"It's nothing." He repeated.

Holly sighed and sat down on the bed. "Jess, look, I know you're not much of a talker but...I am here if you ever want to talk..." She said.

Jess glanced at her and sighed. "I'm sorry I've not been much company."

"It's ok." She said. She glanced at him. "What were Dean and Lindsey going on about?"

"Nothing. They were just causing trouble." He said.

"Really?" She raised her eyebrows.

Jess sighed again. "Look, everything's cool. I've been doing a few extra shifts at Walmart but I'm keeping up with school." He said.

"Jess..." Holly said.

"It's cool. Honestly." He said.

"Well...if you're sure..." Holly said slightly worried.

"I'm sure. It's cool." Jess said.

"Ok..." She said. She glanced at him. "So...shouldn't we get back to the party?"

"Prefer it up here." Jess said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm away from everyone."

"Not everyone." Holly pointed out.

"No, but I like you so..." He shrugged.

"Wow, praise indeed!" She teased.

Jess smirked slightly. "Yeah, well..."

Holly grinned. "Well, I like you too."

"Good to know." He said standing up.

"But I still think we should head back down." She said standing up as well, facing him.

"Why?" Jess said.

"Well...because..." Holly hesitated.

"I think it's much more fun up here." He smirked.

Holly smiled slightly. "Maybe so...but..." She said before Rory came bursting in, causing them to jump apart. "Geez, Rory!" She exclaimed.

"Cops have been called. A fight broke out!" Rory exclaimed. "They're shutting down the party. Come on!" She said before rushing off again.

"Wow..." Holly said.

"Yeah..." Jess said.

"I guess we should leave then..."

"I guess so." He said.

Holly glanced at him for a moment before giving him a small smile. "Let's go." She said.

"Bummer we missed the fight." Jess said with a slight smirk as they headed out of the room.

"Sure, trust you to be disappointed in that!" Holly laughed.

* * *

A week passed and a lot had happened in that week. Fran who owned Weston's passed away which gave Lorelai and Sookie the idea of opening their own inn when they discovered she owned the old abandoned inn Lorelai had found a while ago. Jess' dad had also showed up in the diner but Luke quickly warned him off, hoping he wouldn't screw up Jess even more especially after Luke had found out that Jess was skipping class.

This evening, though, Jess was the one waiting for Luke in the apartment after one of the most surreal moments of his life. He watched as Luke came through the door.

"Hey. You hungry? I can make us some eggs." Luke said.

"So I hear you went to see my father last night." Jess said getting up.

Luke stopped before slowly walking into his room to change. "Yeah, I did." He admitted.

"Were you going to tell me?" He said.

"He came by?" Luke asked, not surprised.

"He came by."

"I didn't think he'd have the guts." He shook his head.

"So what were you thinking?" Jess demanded.

"Jess, I don't like your father very much." Luke sighed.

"So because you don't like him, that means I can't know he's here?" He said angrily.

"You know he's here."

"No thanks to you!" He exclaimed.

"Shouldn't have come from me in the first place." Luke pointed out.

"So what, you don't think you owed it to me to tell me, prepare me?" Jess said.

"No, Jess, I didn't." Luke said getting frustrated as well. "With everything that's going on here with you, I kind of hoped he'd just walk away, but...once again, Jimmy makes the wrong move. What a shock." He said.

"Oh, who the hell are you to decide what the right move is?" Jess shouted angrily.

"I'm the one who's saving your ass constantly! I'm the one who always has to talk every single person in this crazy town round when you annoy them! I'm the one trying to knock some sense into that thick head of yours about the future!" Luke said raising his voice.

"Oh, here we go." Jess scoffed.

"You don't take anything seriously. That's why you're doing so crappy in school. You're smart enough, you read more than anyone I've ever seen. There's no reason why you should be barely graduating!" Luke exclaimed.

"I'm not." Jess grumbled.

"You're not what?"

"I'm not graduating." He snapped.

"Yes, you are." Luke said.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are." He repeated firmly.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are because we had an agreement that if you were going to live here, you were going to go to school and you were going to graduate." Luke reminded him.

"Well, I didn't and I'm not." Jess grumbled.

"What is wrong with you? What, did you do this just to spite me?" Luke exclaimed.

"Look, forget it, it's done." He snapped.

"What's your life now? Walmart full time, that's your great future? Going to take the plunge and buy yourself a second blue vest?" He said.

"Maybe, why not? What's wrong with it? I mean, it's no diner." He said sarcastically.

"Hey, I own this business, kid! I built it, this is mine! I'm not at the mercy of some boss waiting and hoping to be chosen employee of the month for a couple extra hundred bucks and a plaque. I'm always employee of the month. I'm employee of the year, of the century, of the universe. You should be so lucky to have a job like mine. Ok, here's what we're going to do. You're going to live here one more year, you're going to quit your job, you're going to take twelfth grade over again and you will graduate." He said firmly.

"No." Jess said.

"I'm not playing with you here, Jess. You quit your job, you go to school." Luke warned.

"I am not going back to school!" He exclaimed.

"So that's it?" Luke said.

"Yeah, that's it." Jess said firmly.

Luke was quiet for a moment and then glanced at him. "Then you've got to go." He said, before grabbing his jacket and storming out of the apartment, leaving Jess standing there.

* * *

Holly was sat in her bedroom that evening when she suddenly heard something hitting her window. She frowned as it continued so she got up and looked out of the window. She was surprised to see Jess standing in the driveway leaning against his car. She quietly opened her window and slowly walked over to him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I wanted to give you these." He said handing over the car keys.

She looked at the keys and then at him. "Why?" She said confused.

"Because I'm done." Jess said.

"Done? Done with what?" Holly said still confused.

"Done fixing it up. It's yours." He said.

"What?" Holly's eyes widened. "You're...you're still giving me the car?"

"I said I was doing it for you, didn't I?" It was his turn to be confused.

"I know. I just...wow! You're seriously giving me the car?" She said excitedly.

"Yup." He said smiling slightly.

"Oh my god, you're the best!" She exclaimed, grinning, taking Jess by surprise and hugging him.

"Oh...ok..." Jess said.

Holly pulled away slightly, embarrassed. "Sorry..." She said. "I..uh..I just can't believe you did this for me. It's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me." She said.

"No problem." He said. "I...should get back." He said somewhat reluctantly.

"Ok. Seriously, Jess, thank you." She smiled softly.

"No problem." Jess repeated giving her a small smile. He turned to head off before turning back towards her. "Hey Holly?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck yeah? With the..uh..graduation and Stanford and stuff..." He said.

"What?" Holly said confused.

"You're going to do great things." Jess smiled softly.

"Jess...what are you going on about? Why does it seem like you're saying goodbye?" She frowned.

"Sorry..I..uh..my mind's all over the place at the moment." He tried to shrug it off. "Hey, at least you can say you've seen Jess Mariano all sappy and well...you know. I'm sure the town would get a field day out of it." He said smirking slightly.

Holly smiled slightly. "Your secret's safe with me."

"Anyway, I really should go." Jess said.

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're ok?" She asked.

"I'm ok." He assured her. He gave her a small smile and a mock salute before slowly walking off.

Holly watched him disappear from sight, slightly confused by the conversation they had just had. She glanced at the car and then at the keys in her hand before slowly heading back to her bedroom.

* * *

Lorelai opened the door the next morning. "Oh hey!" She smiled at Luke.

"Hey...uh...is Holly around?" He asked hesitantly.

"She's still asleep." She said. "Why?"

"It's Jess." He sighed.

"What's he done now?" Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"He's gone." Luke said.

**So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming. I love reading what you all think and I really do appreciate every review you leave so thank you! :) Thank you again for all your support as well. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you for the continued support! :)**

Chapter 9

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Lorelai said.

"And I don't think he's coming back." Luke said.

"What do you mean gone? Like gone gone?" She said.

"Exactly like gone gone. All his stuff is gone. He's left." He said.

"But when?"

"Last night, this morning, I don't know. I went up there to get some money out of the safe and I noticed that all of his stuff was gone." He sighed.

"Oh Luke, I'm so sorry." Lorelai said.

"Yeah, well forget it. I'm through with him. He's eighteen, he can do whatever the hell he wants. He's on his own, I'm through." Luke said firmly.

"Luke..."

"No, it's a relief. That kid was driving me crazy. Let him make his own way from now on. Let him see how far that smart mouth of his gets him without someone watching his back. I couldn't be more relieved. I'm just worried about Holly. I know the two of them were close. I assume she doesn't know." He said.

"She hasn't said anything." She said. "But she's not been up yet..."

"I can tell her if you want me to." Luke offered.

"No, it's ok. I can tell her." Lorelai said.

"Tell me what?" A voice said behind them.

"I'll leave you to it." Luke said.

"Thanks Luke." Lorelai sighed, watching him leave before turning to Holly.

"What's going on?" Holly asked.

Lorelai sighed. "Apparently Jess has gone..." She said.

"What?" Holly frowned. "Gone where?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask. Luke just said all his stuff was gone. And...he doesn't seem to think he's coming back..."

"But...why? I don't get it. I only saw him last night and he didn't say anything about leaving." Holly said.

"Last night?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"He came by to give me the car. He'd finished it and he wanted me to have it. But he didn't say anything about leaving!"

"Well maybe..." She started.

"Don't." Holly shook her head.

"Don't what?" Lorelai asked confused.

"Don't start saying maybe it's for the best because I don't want to hear it!" She snapped.

"But maybe..."

"No!" Holly shook her head again. "I know you hated him ok? I know you thought he was a bad influence on me and I know you're probably ecstatic that he's gone but I'm not! He was my friend, mom! I got him and he got me and I'm hurt that he left without telling me or saying goodbye. It really hurts ok? So if you think badmouthing him is going to help me, it's not. So please, just...don't." She said blinking back tears.

"Ok." Lorelai said softly. "I'm sorry, hon." She said sincerely.

"I'm going to get ready for school." Holly said quietly, before disappearing into her room.

* * *

"Are we seriously going to go to them?" Holly sighed as they got off the bus after their day at school.

"It's our only option. Mom and Sookie have to open that inn. You know it's been mom's dream for years." Rory said.

"I know." She sighed. "I just...asking Grandma and Grandpa for money again. Mom's not going to like it." She said.

"I know. But it's our choice. And mom will thank us when she has her inn up and running."

"They probably won't even pay for Stanford. They're upset that I'm not following the golden girl to Yale." Holly said.

Rory glanced at her. "Hol..."

"Sorry, I didn't mean that. Well, I sort of did. You are their favourite." She shrugged.

"I'm not their favourite..." Rory protested.

"You are." Holly said. "But I don't care. Honestly. I don't resent you for it or anything. I just want to prepare you that they may not pay for me." She shrugged.

Rory sighed. "Well, we can still try. I'm sure they won't just pay for me and not you. And if they do offer that, I'll reject them." She said.

Holly glanced at her. "You don't need to do that..."

"Hey, you're my sister. It's us against the world ok?" She smiled.

Holly smiled slightly. "Ok." She said softly.

"How are you doing?" Rory asked cautiously.

"I'm fine." She said quickly.

"Have you heard from him?"

"Seeing as he left without saying goodbye, I hardly think he's going to call." Holly said.

She sighed. "Are you ok?" She asked.

Holly glanced at her. "I'm fine." She repeated.

"Ok." Rory said knowing when to drop it.

Holly glanced at the diner. "Hey, I'll catch you up ok?" She said.

"Ok. Just don't be late!" She said.

"I won't." She said, heading over to the diner. She took a deep breath before heading inside. "Hey Luke." She said quietly as she approached the counter.

"Holly..." Luke said surprised.

"Hey..."

"Hey..."

Holly sighed. "Have you heard from him?" She asked.

"No." Luke said. "I very much doubt I will."

"You know...he was acting weird last night. I should have realised something was up." She admitted.

"We had a fight." Luke admitted.

She looked up at him. "About what?"

"About everything." He sighed. "He was angry about me keeping the fact that his father was here from him. Maybe I should have told him. Maybe I shouldn't have. But he was angry and then I got angry. He wasn't going to graduate." He told her.

"What?" Holly said surprised.

"He skipped too many days and classes. And he refused to agree to doing the year again and quitting Walmart. He was angry. I was angry. And...I told him he had to go." Luke admitted. He glanced at Holly. "I didn't think he would. I thought we would both calm down and we would talk again calmly. I honestly didn't know he would just leave." He sighed. "I'm sorry...I know you two were close."

"No, Luke, it's not your fault." She said quietly. "It was his choice to leave..."

"I failed him." Luke said.

"What? No, you didn't." She shook her head.

"Yeah I did." He sighed.

"You did not fail him. You supported him, you defended him, you gave him a chance." Holly said. "Jess chose not to take it. There's nothing you can do about that." She said. She sighed. "I'm kind of wondering if I really knew Jess at all..." She said.

"Holly..."

"I should go. Rory's waiting for me." She said getting up. She turned to leave before turning back. "Hey Luke? You're still coming to our graduation right?"

"I wouldn't miss it." He smiled.

Holly grinned. "Great!"

"Hey Holly?" Luke said softly.

"Yeah?"

"He really did value your friendship, you know." He said.

Holly just gave him a small smile before giving him half a wave and then leaving the diner.

* * *

"Told you mom wouldn't be happy." Holly said as she, Rory, Paris, Madeline and Louise took their seats at their graduation.

"Yeah but she accepted it." Rory said. "Plus you also said they wouldn't pay for Stanford but they are going to." She pointed out.

"After a lot of deliberation." Holly rolled her eyes.

"They wanted to. They're proud of you as well." She said.

Holly sighed. "I'm sorry. I just...my mind's been everywhere this week..." She said.

"That's understandable." Rory said softly. "Have you...?"

"Nope. Are you ready to graduate?" She said quickly changing the subject.

"Sure. How about you guys?" Rory said to Paris, Madeline and Louise.

"Definitely." Paris said. "Ready to get out of this school."

"Me too." Madeline said.

"Me three." Louise said.

"Looks like it's about to start." Holly nodded to the stage where Headmaster was stepping up to the microphone.

"It's a distinct pleasure for me to introduce to you our valedictorian. This young lady was a second-year transfer from a modest school where she distinguished herself immeasurably. She is humble, hard working, competitive when need be and unparalleled in her academic achievements. Ladies and Gentlemen, Rory Gilmore." He announced.

"Go Rory!" Holly exclaimed, standing up and clapping, grinning at her sister.

Rory blushed slightly and headed for the stage.

"Not crying, right?" Sookie said to Lorelai.

"Not crying. Keeping our cool so we don't miss anything." Lorelai said.

"Tears get in your eyes." She nodded.

"Then you miss things."

"So we're not crying."

"Not crying."

"Headmaster Charleston, faculty members, fellow students, family and friends, welcome." Rory smiled. "We never thought this day would come. We prayed for its quick delivery, crossed days off our calendars, counted hours, minutes and seconds and now that it's here, I'm sorry it is because it means leaving friends who inspire me and teachers who have been my mentors. So many people who have shaped my life and my fellow students' lives impermeably and forever. I live in two worlds. One is a world of books. I've been a resident of Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, hunted the white whale aboard the Pequod, fought alongside Napoleon, sailed a raft with Huck and Jim, committed absurdities with Ignatius J. Reilly, rode a sad train with Anna Karenina and strolled down Swann's Way. It's a rewarding world, but my second one is by far superior." She said, glancing up and taking a deep breath before continuing. "My second one is populated with characters slightly less eccentric but supremely real, made of flesh and bone, full of love, who are my ultimate inspiration for everything. Richard and Emily are kind, decent, unfailingly generous people. They are my twin pillars without whom I could not stand. I am proud to be their grandchild." She said glancing up and smiling over at her grandparents who looked surprised to be acknowledged. "Another inspiration of mine comes from my mom, the dazzling woman from whom I received my name and my life's blood, Lorelai Gilmore."

"Uh oh." Sookie said.

"Hang in there." Lorelai said trying to blink back her own tears.

"My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn't do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. She filled our house with love and fun and books and music, unflagging in her efforts to give me role models from Jane Austen to Eudora Welty to Patti Smith. As she guided me through these incredible eighteen years, I don't know if she ever realised that the person I most wanted to be was her." Rory said her voice cracking slightly. She took another deep breath before glancing up and finding Holly in the front row. "My ultimate inspiration, however, comes from my sister, my twin, my best friend." She said. "Holly has been there every step of the way here at Chilton and I wouldn't be standing here today if it wasn't for her support. Thank you, Holly, for being the best sister I could have ever asked for." She took a deep breath before looking up and giving everyone a tremulous smile. "So let's do this. Let's graduate!" She said.

Later on in the cermony, it was finally time for the students to receive their diplomas.

"Holly Victoria Gilmore." Headmaster Charleston announced.

"This is it." Lorelai smiled proudly.

"And Lorelai Leigh Gilmore." He announced.

"They look so solemn." Emily said.

"Like Gilmores." Richard smiled softly.

"Congratulations both." Headmaster Charleston smiled at the sisters.

"Thank you." Rory smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." Holly smiled.

They both walked across the stage and glanced over to their mom. They grinned at each other before sticking their tongue out at her. They laughed as their mom did the same thing and then they headed off the stage together.

"Lorelai, really!" Emily exclaimed.

"I taught them everything I know." Lorelai grinned.

* * *

Rory and Holly walked over to their mom who was stood with Luke.

"How amazing was Rory's speech?" Holly grinned.

"Holly, stop..." Rory ducked her head slightly.

"It made everyone cry, including stone cold Luke." Lorelai grinned.

"Luke, you old softy." Rory teased.

"I will never live this down." Luke said.

"Not with us in your life you won't." Holly smirked.

"I've got to go. I've got to get back to the diner." He said.

"Thanks for coming, Luke." Rory smiled giving him a hug.

"Yeah, it meant a lot." Holly smiled.

"Oh, sure. The building's amazing." He said. He smiled at them both. "So are you two." He said softly.

"Thanks." Rory said.

"Yeah, thanks Luke." Holly smiled before the two of them walked off.

"It really was great of you to come, Luke. It meant a lot to them." Lorelai smiled at Luke.

"It was fun." Luke said.

"So..uh..if I don't see you, have fun on your trip with Nicole." She said.

"Oh, we may not go now." He said.

"What? You were really looking forward to it."

"I don't know if the timing's right and...things are kinda weird right now."

"Please don't tell me it's because I teased you about the commitment thing and proposing. I ruined it!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"No, that's not it." He assured her. "But you weren't wrong about that. It got me thinking and it is kind of like committing to her."

"So?"

"I don't want to lead her on."

"But you like her, Luke. You like her a lot, don't you?" She said.

"Yeah, she's great." Luke nodded.

"Then go. No matter what she's reading into it." Lorelai said.

"Really? You think that's ok considering...I don't know...everything?" He said glancing at her.

She looked at him for a moment. "Yeah...I do." She said.

"Oh..ok." He said. "I'll probably go then."

"Good."

"I guess I was just nervous about nothing."

"That's what I think, too." Lorelai smiled.

"I'll see you in a couple months."

"Yeah, I'll see you then." She nodded. "Bye Luke." She smiled softly.

"Bye." Luke smiled at her before walking off, leaving Lorelai watching him.

Meanwhile, Paris, Madeline and Louise came up to Rory and Holly. "I guess we should say our goodbyes. Nanny made me a special dinner. She makes a mean farturas." Paris smiled.

"Well, good, I'm glad you found us. I wanted to say goodbye too." Rory smiled.

"Good. Well, good luck." Paris said.

"You know, it's weird, most of the time I really hated you." Rory said.

"Yeah." Paris smirked. "I really hated you too." She said.

Holly laughed. "Will you two just hug already?" She exclaimed.

Rory and Paris smiled before hugging.

"Good luck, Paris." Holly smiled at Paris, giving her a hug as well.

"You too." Paris smiled at her.

"And you two!" Holly said giving Madeline and Louise a hug too. "It's been fun."

"It really has." Madeline smiled. "Bye."

"Yeah, bye guys." Louise said, before the two of them and Paris walked off.

Lorelai then walked up to them with Emily and Richard.

"Hey!" Lorelai smiled at her daughters.

"Well, I think it might be time to present the girls with their graduation gifts." Richard said.

"Oh, you guys didn't have to get us anything." Rory said.

"Speak for yourself." Holly joked.

"Rory, your one wouldn't fit in an envelope, so follow me please." Richard smiled, leading them to a car park.

"Wait, you got me a car?" Rory exclaimed excitedly.

"It's the one with the pink bow." Emily smiled.

"Oh my god! Thank you so much!" She exclaimed hugging them both.

"Now, Holly, your mother told us you actually have a car..." Richard said.

Holly glanced at her mom and then back at them. "Uh...yeah..." She said not really wanting to get into it.

"Although I still don't see why you would let her accept a car from a..." Emily started.

"Dad, why don't you give Holly her gift?" Lorelai interrupted her.

"Good idea." Richard said. "Now yours did fit in an envelope." He smiled handing an envelope over.

Holly took it and opened it. "Grandma, Grandpa, this is..." She said shocked seeing what was inside.

"Now, I know it might have come across that we weren't happy about you going to Stanford. But we are proud of you. Stanford is an exceptional place and we couldn't be more proud." Richard smiled softly. "Right, Emily?"

"Of course." Emily smiled sincerely. "We're just going to miss you a lot, being so far away." She said.

"But this...this is too much. You've bought me plane tickets back for the first semester. That's too much!" Holly said touched.

"Nothing is too much for our granddaughters." Emily smiled softly.

"You should be able to visit your family whenever you like." Richard smiled.

"Thank you." Holly said still stunned, hugging them. "I love you guys."

"We both do. Thank you so much." Rory said joining the hug.

"We love you too." Richard said.

"And thank you...for the speech." Emily said to Rory. "We were touched."

"We should get going." Lorelai said softly.

"Have fun in Europe." Emily said. She glanced at Lorelai. "All of you."

"Thank you, Mom." She smiled.

"When do you get back?" She asked.

"The 27th."

"Terrific. We'll see you that Friday for dinner." She nodded before the two of them left.

"Explain the win-win-win thing again." Lorelai said to her daughters.

"Everybody wins, that's what it is." Rory smiled slightly.

"The Friday night dinners continue!" Holly grinned. "Well, until I go to Stanford, that is!" She joked as her cell rang. "Hello?" She answered but there was no reply. "Hello?" She repeated before hanging up.

"A hang up?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah." She said.

"You're getting a lot of those lately." She commented as Holly's cell rang again.

"Hello?" Holly said again. She glanced at her mom and Rory before heading inside for some privacy. "Jess, is that you?" She said. "Hello?" She said but there was still no reply. She just shook her head. "Jess, I'm pretty sure it's you and I'm pretty sure you've been calling and not saying anything but want to say something." She said. "Ok fine. Don't talk. But I will. You leaving sucked, Jess. You could have talked to me. You could have told me you were leaving. You could have said goodbye. But you didn't. We were meant to be friends. I thought we were friends. I thought we were good friends. But...maybe that was all just a game to you as well. Maybe you just thought it would be a fun way to kill time while you were here. But I'm hurt, Jess. You hurt me." She said blinking back tears. "Our friendship might not have meant anything to you but it did to me. Maybe my mom was right. Maybe I really don't know you at all." She said quietly. She wiped away some tears and took a deep breath. "You hurt me, Jess. But...I want you to be good. So...I hope you are. I know this probably sounds lame but...bye Jess. Have a good life." She said before hanging up. She took a few moments before getting up and joining her mom and Rory.

"Hey! You ok?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm good." Holly nodded.

"You sure?" Rory asked.

"I'm ready to celebrate. I'm ready to celebrate our graduation and you finally getting your inn, mom. So...let's celebrate ok?" Holly smiled.

"Sounds like a plan." Lorelai smiled.

Rory put her arm round her sister's shoulder. "Start of a new beginning right?" She said.

Holly smiled. "Start of a new beginning." She nodded.

"Now let's go party!" Lorelai grinned.

**So I hope you liked it! Please keep letting me know what you think. Thanks again for all your support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you for your continued support! Here's the next chapter! :)**

Chapter 10

Rory and Holly walked in and sat at the counter at Luke's.

"Hey Luke." Rory said.

"Hey Rory, Holly. Isn't today the day?" He asked.

"Yeah, we're going right now." Holly nodded.

"You both look so calm. How do you feel?" Luke asked.

"A little nervous." Rory said.

"A lot nervous!" Holly admitted.

"But a last Luke's fix before we go will help." Rory smiled.

"Well, today is whatever you want on the house." He smiled.

"Wow, we feel important." Holly quipped.

"You are important. Where's your mom?" Luke asked.

"She's coming. She's having a little bit of trouble with your truck." Rory said.

"What is she doing?" Luke said looking out of the window to see Lorelai reversing his truck down the road.

"Well, she kind of backed the truck out of our driveway all fine and everything but once she hit the road, she couldn't get it out of reverse, so she..." Rory said.

"Backed it here?" Luke exclaimed.

"Slow but steady." Holly smirked, watching Luke race outside. "She's in so much trouble." She grinned at Rory.

A little while later, Lorelai and Luke returned.

"So are we ready to hit the road?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, just let me get Caesar to make something to go." Rory smiled heading off to find him.

"I'm just going to run to the loo." Lorelai said, leaving Holly and Luke at the counter.

"So...you're really going to let mom drive your truck?" Holly joked.

Luke smirked slightly. "I've drawn her a diagram. I'm trusting you and Rory to make sure she doesn't wreck it."

Holly grinned. "We will do our best." She was quiet for a moment before glancing up at him. "Have you heard from Jess?"

Luke glanced at her and sighed. "No." He said.

Holly sighed. "I ranted at him over the phone after the graduation." She admitted.

"Yeah?" He said.

"I'd been getting these calls but noone ever spoke. I know it was him so I just got so annoyed that I went off on one. And now...well, I'm feeling kind of guilty." She admitted.

"I'm sure he doesn't blame you. You have every right to be upset." Luke said.

"Do I though? Jess was obviously going through something. I was the only person he talked to. I don't know why he thought he could but he did. And I...I felt like I could talk to him as well. I...I said some stuff I regret now because he was a really good friend and now...now he thinks I hate him." She said quietly.

"I'm sure he doesn't." Luke said softly.

"I'm worried about him." She admitted. "Do you...He will be ok right? I mean, I know he can look after himself but..." She sighed. "I'm worried about him."

Luke sighed. "I'm sure he's ok. As you said, he can look after himself." He said.

"I know but he shouldn't have to." Holly said. She glanced at him. "I just hope he's ok, that's all. If...if you hear from him, can you tell him...can you tell him I'm sorry? And that...that I hope he's ok." She said.

"I doubt I will hear from him but yes, I'll tell him." Luke said softly.

"Thank you." She smiled softly.

"He's lucky to have you, you know." He smiled.

Holly shrugged. "I think it might be the other way round. But thanks." She said as Lorelai and Rory returned.

"Got the food!" Rory said.

"Great! Ready to go?" Lorelai asked.

"Yep!" Rory smiled.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be." Holly said.

"Bye Luke." Rory said.

"Yeah bye Luke! And thanks." Holly smiled.

"Good luck, both of you." Luke smiled at them.

* * *

Holly was stood by security at the airport watching the queue go forward. She turned to her mom and Rory. "I guess this is it..." She said nervously.

"I can still come with you. Help you get settled in..." Lorelai said.

"Yeah, Hol, I really don't mind." Rory said.

"No, it's fine." Holly assured them. "I'll be fine."

Lorelai blinked back some tears. "You'll call me when you land?" She said.

Holly nodded, trying to keep back her own tears. "I promise." She said.

"Come here." Lorelai said pulling her daughter into a hug. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." She said tremulously.

"And I am so so proud of you." She said.

"Yeah?"

"Extremely proud." Lorelai smiled softly. "You're going to do amazing things, hon. Just...don't forget to call home every so often yeah?" She said.

Holly smiled. "That's a given." She said. She glanced at Rory and then hugged her tightly as well. "Have fun at Yale." She said.

"Have fun at Stanford." Rory smiled.

"I should get going." Holly said gesturing to the queue.

"Yeah, of course. You don't want to miss your flight." Lorelai said. She gave her daughter another hug. "You need anything, you just call me ok? I can be on the next flight out." She said.

"I will." She promised. "Bye mom, Rory..." She smiled tremulously. She gave them both another hug before slowly turning round and heading through security, giving them a final wave before she disappeared from view.

* * *

Later that day, Rory saw her mom returning after going to get her a second load of stuff and she greeted her at the door to her suite.

"Oh hi." Lorelai said.

"Saw you coming." Rory said.

"What's up?" She said.

"You just have to see it." Rory said leading her inside.

"No!" Lorelai exclaimed seeing Paris in the living room of the suite.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Paris?"

"And Terrence, her life coach." Rory smiled slightly.

"Like on Oprah?"

"Yep."

"They're setting up her crafts' corner."

"No!"

"Yep."

"Hey, this the place?" Luke said appearing at the door.

"This is the place." Lorelai nodded. "Oh, whoa, hold it a minute! You can't bring that thing in here." She said seeing him pulling the mattress inside.

"Well, I'm not taking it back out." He said. "Hi Rory." He smiled at her.

"Hey Luke." Rory smiled slightly.

"No, we're unloading bags and boxes first." Lorelai said.

"Look, that Tess already had her antennae up about the mattress and she wouldn't stop watching me so I had to do something." He said.

"Well, wait until she's gone and then bring it back out!"

"It's heavy. The only way I got it into the building is with help from Chip. Now I have to go help him unload his stuff because that was the deal." Luke said. "The mattress stays. Now if you'll excuse me." He said before heading off.

"Start pushing." Rory smirked.

* * *

Holly found herself infront of her dorm. She took a deep breath before opening the door and going in. She glanced round and saw a cosy little living room with a tv, a bathroom and three bedrooms all with two single beds in them. She saw her initials on a post-it on one of the bedroom doors so she assumed that was hers. She started to unpack by herself when she heard footsteps come into the dorm. She took a deep breath before heading out of her bedroom. She stopped when she saw who it was. "You've got to be kidding me..." She said.

"Good to see you too." Tristan chuckled.

"It's seriously you? You're one of my dorm mates?" Holly exclaimed.

"Is that such a bad thing?" He joked.

"Are you kidding?" Holly grinned going forward to give him a hug. "You have no idea how good it is to see a familiar face!"

"Well, it's good to see you too." Tristan smiled. "I never knew you were interested in Stanford." He said.

"I didn't either. Until I started looking into it." Holly said. "I never knew you were interested in...well...furthering your education."

"Touche!" He chuckled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, well, at school you weren't exactly into it." She said.

"Yeah, well, military school gave me a new perspective on things." He shrugged.

"Well, good. I always knew you could do well if you put your mind to it." Holly teased.

"I know you did." He smirked.

Just then they heard two familiar voices coming down the hallway heading to their dorm.

"And things just get even more surreal..." Holly said shaking her head, watching the door as Madeline and Louise came walking in. "What are you two doing here?" She laughed.

"Are you two going here as well?" Madeline exclaimed.

"No, we're just illusions." Tristan chuckled.

"Oh my god, this is going to be..." Madeline grinned.

"Amazing!" Louise grinned.

"Pinch me now." Holly whispered to Tristan.

* * *

"Anything else you need, you'll write it down, ok?" Lorelai said.

"I've got more than I need. Stuff I don't need." Rory said.

"It's all necessary stuff."

"The disco ball?" She smirked.

"You can't host your much-anticipated Salute to Barry White Night without a disco ball!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I forgot I was anticipating that." Rory laughed. "Where's Luke?" She asked.

"He's already out at the truck." She said. "So, this is it..."

"This is really it." Rory nodded.

"Learn a lot of stuff."

"I'll try."

"You'll be a frequent visitor?" Lorelai smiled.

"I'll be a frequent visitor." She promised.

"You can use the washer and the dryer."

"I don't need any inducement."

"Good." Lorelai smiled tremulously.

"But don't you get rid of that washer and dryer." Rory joked.

"I won't. Ciao, baby." She smiled giving her a hug.

"Bye, Mom." Rory smiled softly, watching her leave.

* * *

"I still can't believe the four of us are room mates!" Holly said as she collapsed onto the couch next to Tristan while Madeline and Louise sat on the other.

"I know, crazy right?" Louise said.

"I didn't even know you two were applying here." Holly said.

"You didn't ask." Madeline said.

"Well, I guess that's true..." Holly said.

"I know you probably thought we were just two bimbos who aren't interested in education and just hang around with boys all day but we do care." Louise said. "About our education. And Stanford is one of the best universities in America. We want to do this right and get good degrees."

"That's true." Holly nodded. She glanced at them. "Just for your information, I never thought that." She said.

"Really?" Madeline said.

"You always got good grades so it was obvious you did focus on your studies as well. I guess some people don't have to try so hard to get good grades." She said. "I actually respect you two."

"Oh..well, thanks." Louise said surprised.

"And you're right. This is going to be fun." Holly smiled. "It will be nice getting to know you better as well."

"Plus we've got a cute guy to look at every day." Louise smirked, glancing at Tristan.

"Oooh, Louise, our dates are here!" Madeline exclaimed, glancing at the day.

"Ooh great! Don't stay up for us guys!" Louise grinned at Holly and Tristan.

"Bye!" Madeline grinned.

Holly smirked as the two of them left with their dates. "Nice to see they haven't completely changed!" She laughed.

Tristan chuckled. "Madeline and Louise will always be Madeline and Louise. But I kind of respect that." He said as the doorbell rang.

"You expecting anyone?" Holly asked.

"Nope." He said.

Holly got up and went over to the door and opened it. She froze when she saw a very familiar figure standing infront of her. "Jess..." She said shocked.

"Luke kicked me out, my dad's pretty much rejected me. I have no one. I have nothing. I...I have nothing." He said, his voice thick with emotion. "I didn't know where else to go..."

**So I hope you liked it! Your reviews mean so much to me so please keep them coming! :) Thank you again for all your support. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thought I'd treat you to another chapter! :)**

Chapter 11

Holly didn't know what to do. "Jess..."

"I'm sorry. I should never have come." He said. "I'll..uh..I'll just leave you to it." He said turning round.

"No, Jess, wait!" She said, finally finding her voice.

Jess turned back round. "I have nothing." He said quietly. "I really...have nothing."

Holly looked at him for a moment before stepping to the side. "Come in." She said softly. She glanced over at Tristan who was watching them curiously. "Uh, Tristan, this is Jess. Jess, this is Tristan. He used to go to Chilton."

"Oh...right." Jess said. "Hey." He nodded at him.

"Hey." Tristan said. He glanced between them. "I'll give you some space." He smiled before disappearing into his room.

Holly glanced at Jess. "You want to sit down?" She asked.

Jess just nodded and sat down on the couch. "I...I'm sorry to just spring myself on you. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving..." He said.

"You don't need to apologise." She sighed, sitting down next to him. "I should be apologising..."

"What?" He said surprised. "No, you didn't do anything wrong..."

"That rant I went off on to you on the phone. I was angry and upset. But I shouldn't have said those things." Holly said quietly. "I just...well, I was hurt you had left without saying goodbye and I...well, I was upset. And I missed you." She admitted.

"I know. I don't blame you." Jess sighed. He glanced at her. "I am sorry. My head...it was all over the place and I just needed to get away."

"So...you went to see your dad?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah..." He said. "He lives here in California."

"Oh he does?" She said surprised.

"He has his own little family. He's been with this woman for years and she has a kid. Lily. She's a bookworm." Jess said.

"Sounds like a cool kid." Holly smiled softly.

"Yeah, she's sweet. Jimmy dotes on her and she dotes on him. They're like a...proper family." He said quietly.

"Jess..." She said softly.

"It's fine. But...they don't need me around. He doesn't need me screwing things up for him and bringing trouble to his door." He mumbled.

"He told you that?" Holly frowned.

"Implied it. He ran out on me as a baby. Why the hell would he care about me now?" Jess shrugged.

"Well...he came to see you. He obviously wanted to see you." Holly said cautiously.

"Yeah, to do just that. He wanted to see me, that's all. He didn't want anything else." He mumbled.

"That's...just cruel." Holly said surprised.

"I'm used to people not wanting me."

Holly glanced at him. "He seriously came to see you just so he could feel better about himself only to abandon you again?"

"Pretty much." Jess nodded.

"I'm so sorry, Jess. That really..." She said.

"Sucks? Yeah." He sighed. "But it's fine. I've gone through life not being wanted by anyone. My dad, my mom, Luke, my dad again... I'm used to it."

"Luke's not like that. He regrets kicking you out. He said you were both angry and he regretted telling you that you had to go. He wanted you both to sit down and talk calmly. He misses you, I know he does. He cares about you, Jess." She said softly.

"Well, I've blown it with him now anyway." Jess mumbled. "I actually had something good. I mean, I may not have thought it at the time. And I may have thought Stars Hollows was crazy and everyone who lived there was crazy but I see that it was good now. I...had a home for the first time ever and now...I have nothing. I have no one." He said.

"You have me." Holly said quietly.

Jess glanced at her. "I don't deserve you." He sighed.

"Jess, you're my friend. Friends have arguments but it doesn't mean they're not friends. And...I don't want to lose you, Jess. I value our friendship too much." She said softly. "I...I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too." He admitted, glancing at her.

Holly gave him a small smile and then took him by surprise by hugging him. "It's so good to see you." She said softly.

Jess smiled for the first time since arriving. "It's good to see you too." He said softly, holding her tight.

"I have a spare bed in my room. Do you need somewhere to bunk for a while?" She asked.

"Seriously?" Jess said surprised. "You'd let me stay here?"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Holly joked.

Jess chuckled slightly. "You're amazing, you know that right?"

"Well, I try." She grinned.

* * *

Lorelai was sat on her couch in the Crap Shack alone watching some tv when she heard the doorbell rang. Confused, she got up and opened the door. "Oh, hey!" She said.

"Hey." Luke smiled.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Well, I know that Rory and Holly both went off today and I wondered if you'd like some company tonight." He said.

"That's really sweet." Lorelai smiled touched.

"Well...I just thought maybe you wouldn't want to be alone tonight." He shrugged it off. "I'll even watch some of your crappy movies with you if you want." He teased.

"They're not crappy!" She laughed.

"Some of them are." He smirked.

"I'm sorry, are you trying to get invited in or what?" Lorelai smirked.

"Sorry." Luke smiled slightly. "I've brought burgers." He said holding up a take out bag.

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?" She grinned. "Come on in!"

* * *

"So apparently Paris is Rory's new dorm mate!" Holly grinned going into her room to find Jess lying on the spare bed.

"You're kidding. How's she taking it?" Jess chuckled, sitting up.

"Well, according to her, Paris has a life coach and is starting afresh." Holly laughed. "But...I think she's actually quite happy to see a familiar face." She admitted. "Which I get." She smiled, glancing over at him.

"Yeah..." He smiled.

"You know, I was so nervous on the flight over here." She admitted, sitting down next to her. "I started to wonder if I'd done the right thing. I missed mom and Rory already which I know was pathetic. And I still miss them but I got here and then I saw Tristan again. And then Madeline and Louise. And I don't know but it suddenly felt like I was closer to home again. And then...well...you showed up..." She gave him a small smile. "And suddenly, well I suddenly felt like I could do this. That I would be ok."

"You will be ok." Jess said. "You're going to wow everyone here, Holly. You deserve everything you get."

"Jess..." Holly said nervously.

"Yeah?"

"I really missed you." She said.

"I missed you too." Jess said.

"No, I mean, I really missed you." Holly said. She glanced at him. "Jess, I think I like you..." She admitted.

"What?" He said surprised.

"And now I've ruined everything." She groaned. "Why did I have to open my stupid mouth? Rory questioned me about how I felt about you, my mom was worried about it obviously and even Carol could see it. But I always denied it because I didn't think it was anything. But then...you left and...I really missed you and...urgh, I don't know. I've made things so awkward now, haven't I?" She cringed, glancing at him. She saw him looking at her smiling slightly. "What?" She said.

"It's cute when you ramble." Jess smirked.

"Shut up." She said rolling her eyes. "You're loving this, aren't you?"

"Holly..."

"No, it's fine. I've humiliated myself and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything but I hope it won't ruin our friendship..."

"Hol..."

"Please...just don't leave again..." She continued.

"Hol!" Jess exclaimed.

"What?" Holly said glancing at him.

Jess smiled at her before leaning in to kiss her. "I really hope this doesn't ruin our friendship either..." He said.

Holly blushed slightly. "Just promise me you won't tell my mom..." She joked.

Jess smirked. "Oh she would kill me if she knew."

"And me!" She pointed out.

"So we keep this a California secret?" Jess said.

Holly smiled and kissed him again. "It's our secret." She said softly.

* * *

"Thanks for coming tonight." Lorelai smiled at Luke as she walked him to the front door.

"It was fun." He said.

"Yeah, it was." She said softly. "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I know I haven't had much time to talk to you today but I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about you and Nicole. I'm sorry you broke up. You seemed to really like her." Lorelai said.

Luke glanced at her and nodded. "Yeah I did. But...it just wasn't right. We both felt it." He said. "But...thanks."

Lorelai just nodded. "So...I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be the guy giving you coffee." He smiled.

She grinned. "And I will be the crazy lady demanding coffee from you."

"Goodnight Lorelai." Luke smiled softly.

"Night Luke." She smiled, watching her leave. She closed the door behind him and walked back to the living room. She was stopped when there was a knock on the door. She went back and opened the door. "Did you forget something?" She asked.

"Nicole and I weren't right together. But that wasn't the whole truth." He said. "I broke up with her because...because I like someone else." He admitted, glancing at her.

"Oh...ok..." Lorelai said surprised. "Anyone I know?" She asked hesitantly.

"I think you know who it is." Luke said. "Lorelai, I..."

Lorelai bit her lip slightly. "Luke..."

"Lorelai..." He said softly before going forward and pulling her into a kiss. "I've been wanting to do that for years..." He admitted.

Lorelai blushed and smiled slightly. "Yeah? Well why don't we do it again?" She said softly.

"Yeah?" Luke said.

"Yeah." Lorelai smiled, pulling him inside and shutting the front door. "You have no idea." She said softly.

**I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think! Thank you for all your support! :)**


	12. Author's Note

**Hi everyone! I just wanted to do a little author's note to thank you all for your support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**

**I also wanted to clarify some things in my story:**

**1\. If things that happened in the show aren't mentioned in my chapters, assume that they still did happen unless I say otherwise.**

**2\. Luke and Nicole didn't get married. They went on the cruise but they broke up instead of getting married.**

**3\. Jess will be a prominent character in my story so if you don't like him, I'm sorry! ;)**

**4\. There will be a lot of focus on Holly in California as well as I have lots of ideas for that side of the story. I will include others as well though, so don't worry!**

**I'm really excited about this story as I have so many ideas for it so I hope you're enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying writing it. :) Thanks again for all your support. I wouldn't be able to do this without you guys. :)**

**xxx**


	13. Chapter 12

**Ok so I'm kind of on a roll here so I hope you don't mind yet another chapter! :P**

Chapter 12

Holly woke up the next morning and glanced over at the bed Jess was still asleep in. She smiled slightly as she remembered their kiss from the previous evening. She quietly got up, grabbed her cell and headed out to the living room. She was glad everyone else was still asleep and in their rooms. She dialled a number and smiled as a familiar voice answered. "Hey Ror!" She said.

"Holly! How are you?" Rory smiled.

"I'm good. I..uh..I'm really good actually." She smiled giddily.

"Someone sounds happy." She said.

"I kissed Jess last night!" Holly blurted out.

"Wait, what?" Rory said shocked. "When? How? Jess?"

"He turned up here yesterday." Holly explained. "It's a long story. But we kissed. And...it was good." She said. She heard silence down the phone. "Rory?"

"I'm here. I'm just trying to get my head round what you just told me. So...Jess turned up and you ended up kissing?" She said slowly.

"Well, we talked and then...well, yeah." She said. "Ror, I think I really like him."

"Well that's been obvious for a long time." Rory smiled slightly.

"I know. Well, I didn't know at the time, but yeah." She said. "I needed to tell someone and we tell each other everything but please, can you do me a favour?"

"Sure."

"Don't tell mom." Holly said.

"What?" She said surprised.

"Please, Ror. You know how she will react. I just...I want to see how things go first. Please?" She said.

Rory sighed. "Ok fine."

"Thank you." Holly said gratefully. "So how's Yale?"

"Paris is already driving me crazy." Rory said.

"I thought she'd changed?"

"That's what's driving me crazy!" She exclaimed.

Holly laughed. "Ah." She said.

"So what are your roommates are like?" Rory asked.

"Well, seeing as it's Tristan, Madeline and Louise, pretty surreal." She laughed.

"Wait, what?" Rory said surprised.

"Yeah, exactly my reaction too! But it's kind of cool." Holly smiled.

"You sound happy." Rory smiled.

"Yeah. I really am right this moment." She smiled softly.

"I'm glad." She said. "I should get going."

"Shopping week?" Holly teased.

"Maybe."

"Well enjoy!" She laughed. "Talk to you soon?"

"You can count on it." Rory smiled. "Bye Hol."

"Bye." Holly smiled hanging up.

"So you and that Jess guy kissed?" A voice said.

Holly turned round to see Tristan emerging from his room. "Yeah...not that it's any of your business."

"Hey, you were a good friend of mine at Chilton. You were there when I needed you. I just want to make sure this Jess guy won't hurt you." He said joining her on the couch.

"He won't." Another voice said.

"Morning." Holly smiled at Jess.

"Morning." He said. He glanced at Tristan. "I'm not going to hurt her."

"Good." Tristan nodded. He glanced between them. "Well I guess I'll leave you to it then." He said disappearing off to his room again.

"He's just being a friend, that's all." She said.

"It's cool." Jess assured her. "He's only looking out for you."

"I told Rory." Holly admitted.

"What?" He said surprised.

"I know we said it would be a secret but I can't keep secrets from Rory. We tell each other everything." She said. "Are you mad?"

Jess sighed. "No, I'm not mad."

"She's promised she won't tell our mom." Holly told him.

"Ok." He said.

"She's happy for us."

"She is?"

"Yeah. She is." She smiled softly. "She's happy because I'm happy. And I am."

"Good." Jess smiled. "Because I am too." He said leaning over and kissing her.

"Good." Holly smiled into the kiss.

"Whoo! So I'm assuming this is the hot friend of yours that Paris told us about?" Louise grinned coming out into the living room.

"What?" Holly said.

"Yeah, Paris said she met this hot friend of yours once in Stars Hollow and that it was obvious you were both into each other." Madeline grinned.

"Seriously, did everyone know except us?" She said to Jess.

"Seems like it." Jess smirked.

Holly laughed. "Madeline, Louise, this is Jess. Jess, this is Madeline and Louise."

"Nice to meet you." He nodded.

"You too! So are you sticking around?" Louise asked.

"Yeah, well, at least for a bit. If that's ok with you guys." He said.

"Of course! The more, the merrier!" Madeline smiled.

"You are very welcome here." Louise grinned.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Thanks guys."

"Hey, we're very happy to help." Madeline said.

"Especially if it means hot guys staying in our dorm!" Louise grinned.

"Alright, we're leaving." Holly smirked taking Jess' hand and leading him outside. "See you guys later!"

* * *

Lorelai took a deep breath before heading into the diner. "Hey..." She said as she approached the counter.

"Hey." He smiled.

"So...last night was..." She said nervously.

"Unexpected." Luke nodded.

"Yeah, unexpected..."

Luke glanced at her. He looked round the diner before lowering his voice. "Look, we kissed. But if you just want to forget it ever happened, it's fine..." He said hesitantly.

"What? No! I don't want to forget it happened. It was a...nice kiss." Lorelai said.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Yeah." Lorelai smiled. She glanced at him. "I don't want to forget it happened." She repeated.

"Ok." Luke smiled. "So...maybe I can come over to yours tonight and we can talk?" He said.

"I'd like that." She said softly.

"Ok then." He smiled. "Coffee?"

"Uh hello?"

"Coffee it is." Luke chuckled.

Lorelai grinned as he poured her some coffee. "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"You were never just the guy who poured me coffee." She said softly.

Luke smiled. "And you were never just the crazy lady who demanded coffee from me."

"Glad we got that cleared up." She laughed.

"Me to." He smirked.

"So later?"

"I finish at 7." He said.

"See you at 7 then." Lorelai smiled. "Bye Luke."

"Bye." Luke smiled softly, watching her go.

* * *

Holly glanced round as she was sat on the couch snuggled next to Jess that evening. They had all agreed to have a movie night to welcome Matt, their new roommate, into their dorm. She smiled as she saw Matt chatting to Tristan. He had arrived late that morning and had settled in well with everyone. He was very easy to get along with. He had even bonded with Jess as he was doing a publishing and journalism degree. She then glanced over at Louise and Madeline giggling away together. She knew they hadn't been that close at Chilton but she had always liked them and she always wondered what they would be like away from Paris and she was looking forward to finding out. She glanced at Tristan who caught her eye and smiled which she reciprocated. She had been good friends with him at Chilton. She knew he had annoyed Rory but she had gotten along with him. She was disappointed when he had let himself get caught up with Duncan and Bowman and subsequently got shipped off to military school but she was glad that it had apparently been a good thing to him and that he was trying to make something of himself. She then glanced next to her at Jess and smiled. Before she got to California, she was really nervous and second doubting herself but now, sitting here with Jess and everyone else, she was really excited about what the future would bring.

"Hey, you ok?" Jess said.

"Yeah. I really am." Holly smiled. "I really am."

**So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming! Thanks again for your support. :)**


	14. Chapter 13

**Thank you for your continued support! Here's the next chapter. :)**

Chapter 13

It had been a week since Holly had started at Stanford. She came out of one of her seminars and smiled as she saw Jess leaning against the wall opposite. "You don't have to meet me after class every day you know." She teased.

"I know. But I want to." Jess said giving her a quick kiss. "You done for the day?"

"Yep." She nodded.

"Good. I'm taking you out for food." He said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm nice." Jess smirked.

"Well is it like a first date sort of thing or what? Because if it is, I would quite like to change first." Holly said.

"Huh." He said.

"Huh what?"

"Hadn't thought of that. We can go by the dorm first if you like." Jess said.

"Ok!" She smiled. "Let's go." She said holding his hand and walking off with him just as her cell rang. She smiled at the caller id. "Hey!" She said happily.

"Hi!" Rory chirped. "How are you?"

"Good! You?"

"Yeah I'm good. Have you heard that it's mom's first date with Luke tonight?" She said.

"Oh yeah, mom said! No doubt we will get a frantic call asking what she should wear." Holly grinned.

Rory laughed. "Most probably."

"Although you might need to field it because Jess is taking me out tonight." She grinned, nudging Jess playfully.

"Ow!" Jess exclaimed.

"Say hi to Rory!" Holly grinned holding the phone to him.

"Hi Rory." He smirked.

"Hey!" Rory laughed.

"So yeah, we're going out tonight so you might have to take the mom emergency call, sorry!" She said.

"No problem." She said. "So...things are going well?" She asked quieter.

"Yeah." Holy smiled softly, glancing at Jess. "Things are good." She said.

"Good." Rory smiled. "I should probably let you go. I just wanted to check in."

"I'll call you tonight." She said.

"With all the details?" Rory grinned.

"You bet!" Holly laughed.

"Well, have fun! Bye Hol."

"Bye." Holly said before hanging out.

* * *

Lorelai was standing infront of the mirror, wearing a slinky dress and looking rather unhappy. She picked up her cell and rang Holly's number. She frowned when there was no answer. She hung up and then rang Rory's number. "It's too sparkly." She said as soon as Rory picked up the phone.

"What's too sparkly?" Rory said.

"This dress! I look like a chandelier." Lorelai pouted."

"I'm sure you don't." Rory smirked.

"I do."

"What shoes are you wearing?"

"The pink pumps."

"Ooh I like those." Rory said.

"Are they a little too 'come and get it'?" She asked.

"Ok ew!" She grimaced. "I don't really want to think about Luke coming and getting it."

"Sorry." Lorelai smirked slightly. "Hey, have you heard from Holly today? I tried to ring her to get her opinion but there was no answer."

"Oh..uh..yeah, I think she mentioned going out with her roommates tonight." Rory lied.

"Oh right ok." She said. "I still find it weird that she's got Tristan, Madeline and Louise as roommates."

"Me too. But then I have Paris so..."

"True." Lorelai laughed.

"I need to go but stop freaking out about what to wear. Luke wouldn't care if you wore a black bin bag." Rory said.

She sighed. "I guess..."

"Hey mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you excited?

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah I am." She admitted.

"Aw mom, I'm happy for you." Rory smiled softly.

"Thanks hon."

"Have fun."

"Oh I will!" She grinned.

"Ok, I definitely didn't hear that!" Rory rolled her eyes. "Bye mom!"

"Bye!" Lorelai laughed.

* * *

"You didn't have to book this place. It's expensive." Holly said as she ate her food.

"You deserve the best." Jess said.

Holly glanced up at him and smirked. "That's so cheesy."

"Yeah, well..." He shrugged, smirking slightly.

"So...my mom's going on her first date with Luke tonight..." She said casually.

"Oh yeah?" Jess said glancing up.

"Yeah, she's really excited. It's really sweet." Holly smiled.

"Well...it's about time they got together." He said.

"True." She nodded.

"You're happy about it then? You and Rory?"

"Oh yeah! We love Luke. He makes mom happy and she deserves to be happy. They just...belong together." She said.

"Yeah they do." He nodded. "Good for them." he mumbled focusing on his food.

Holly glanced at him. "Have you spoken to Luke?" She asked cautiously.

"Nope."

"Don't you think you should let him know you're ok?" She said hesitantly.

"Nope." Jess repeated.

Holly sighed. "Jess..."

"He won't care. He kicked me out remember? Why would he care where I am?" He said.

"Because he's Luke." She shrugged. "There's nothing more important to Luke than family. He may have been angry at you and said things he regrets but he will always care about you, Jess. You should ring him."

"Not yet." He said.

"Jess..."

"Please." Jess said looking up at her. "I can't. Not yet."

Holly glanced at her. "Ok." She said knowing when to drop it. "So..what's for dessert?"

Jess smiled. "Thank you." He said softly.

* * *

"Hey, do you remember the first time we met?" Lorelai asked as she and Luke sat in Sniffy's, eating food made by Maisy and Buddy who Luke had introduced to her.

"What?" He said.

"I'm just trying to remember the first time we met. It must have been at Luke's, right?"

"It was at Luke's, it was at lunch, it was a very busy day, the place was packed, and this person..." Luke nodded.

"Ooh, is it me? Is it me?" She grinned.

"This person comes tearing into the place in a caffeine frenzy." He continued.

"Ooh, it's me!"

"I was with a customer. She interrupts me, wild-eyed, begging for coffee so I tell her to wait her turn. Then she starts following me around, talking a mile a minute, saying god knows what. So finally I turn to he, and I tell her she's being annoying. I tell her to sit down and shut up, I'll get to her when I get to her." Luke said.

"You know, I bet she took that very well because she sounds just delightful." Lorelai joked.

"She asked me what my birthday was. I wouldn't tell her. She wouldn't stop talking. I gave in. I told her my birthday. Then she opened up the newspaper to the horoscope page, wrote something down, tore it out, handed it to me." He said. "So I'm looking at this piece of paper in my hand and under "Scorpio" she had written, 'You will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away." I gave her coffee." He smiled slightly.

"But she didn't go away." She smiled.

"She told me to hold on to that horoscope, put it in my wallet and carry it around with me." Luke said taking something out of his wallet and handing it to her. "She said one day it would bring me luck."

"Wow, I will say anything for a cup of coffee." Lorelai joked. She looked at the horoscope and looked at him. "I can't believe you kept this. You kept this in your wallet." She said softly.

"Eight years." He nodded.

"Eight years." She said stunned. "Luke..." She said touched.

"Lorelai, this thing we're doing here, me, you, I just want you to know I'm in. I am all in." Luke said softly. "Are you...uh...is that ok?" He said.

Lorelai smiled and leant over to him, gently kissing him on the lips. "That's definitely ok."

"Yeah?" Luke smiled.

"Yeah." She smiled. "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to come back to mine?" She smiled nervously.

Luke glanced at her surprised. "Really?"

"If you want to."

Luke smiled. "I want to."

"Ok good."

"Good." He smiled. "I'll just pay the bill and then we can get off."

"Sounds good." Lorelai smiled.

* * *

"So tonight was nice." Holly said as she and Jess headed back to the dorm room.

"Just nice?" He teased.

She smirked. "Ok maybe it was more than nice." She said.

"I'm glad." Jess chuckled.

"Really though. Thanks." Holly smiled softly.

"You're welcome." Jess smiled as they arrived outside their dorm room. He stopped and pulled Holly in for a kiss.

"What was that for?"

"Don't want to make a show infront of the others." He smirked, kissing her again, pulling her close just as the door opened.

"Seriously guys? You've actually got a room for this!" Tristan smirked standing facing them.

"We had the hallway until you opened the door." Jess smirked.

"Yeah, well your reactions are always way more fun!" Tristan grinned.

Holly rolled her eyes and laughed. "How was your evening?" She asked as they walked into the dorm.

"Not bad." He said. "You guys fancy watching a movie?" He asked.

"Sure, I'm up for it." Holly nodded. "Jess?"

"Sure." He nodded.

"I'm just going to call Rory first. I promised I would when I got back. I'll be out in a minute ok?" She said.

"Ok!" Tristan said.

"Tell her hi." Jess said.

"I will." Holly smiled. She headed for her room, glancing back at Jess quickly, before going into the room. She sat down on her bed and took a deep breath. She bit her lip slightly before dialling a number. "Hey Luke, I know you're probably still out with mom or back at hers which, trust me, feels slightly wrong for me to say..."She joked before sighing slightly. "But there's something I really need to tell you..." She said.

**So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think. :) Thanks again for all your support. :)**


	15. Chapter 14

**Thank you for your continued support! :) I might not be able to update for a few days as I'm going away for the bank holiday weekend and may not have time to write. :) Sorry it's a bit shorter but I wanted to get something up for you guys.**

Chapter 14

Holly left her class the following morning when her cell rang. She took a deep breath and answered it. "Hey Luke." She said nervously.

"Holly, hi! Sorry it's late, I only got your message this morning." He said.

"Do I want to ask why you only got the message this morning?" Holly teased.

"Oh..uh...well..." Luke said.

"I'm only kidding." She grinned.

"Oh. Ok." Luke said blushing slightly. "So...you said you needed to tell me something?"

Holly bit her lip slightly. "Yeah..." She said nervously. "The thing is...you can't tell mom..."

Luke frowned. "I don't know if I can agree with that."

"Unless you want her taking the first flight out here and killing Jess with her bare hands, you might want to..." She said.

"Jess?" He said shocked.

Holly sighed. "Jess is here. He turned up here the day I arrived." She said.

"He's staying with you?" Luke said still trying to get his head round it.

"Kind of." She said. "I know it's wrong to ask you not to tell mom but the other option was not telling you and I wouldn't be able to look you in the face without letting you know Jess is ok." She said. She sighed when there was a silence on the other end of the line. "It's ok, Luke. If you need to tell my mom, I'd understand."

Luke sighed. "He's ok?" He asked.

"He's ok." Holly nodded. "He..uh..it didn't work out with his dad..."

"Oh." He said.

"Yeah..."

"So he's staying with you?"

"We've got a spare bed in our dorm and he had nowhere else to go so...yeah..." Holly said.

"Well...he's lucky to have such a good friend in you." Luke said softly.

Holly was quiet for a moment. She didn't want to have to make him keep yet another secret. "Yeah..well, he's been a good friend to me as well." She said.

Luke sighed. "Well...I should get going..."

"Oh yeah of course!" She said. "Hey, I'm coming back for The Festival of Living Art!"

"Oh yeah? Your mom will be pleased to see you." Luke smiled.

"Yeah, I'm excited. I know it's still in a few weeks but it's going to be fun. Rory's coming back for it as well." Holly smiled.

"Well...I'm sure I will see you in the diner then."

"Definitely!" Holly grinned. "Hey, so you and my mom...it's...going well?" She asked.

Luke smiled. "Yeah it is." He said softly.

"Good. I'm glad. I'm really happy for you both." Holly said sincerely.

"Thanks." He said softly.

"Anyway, I should let you go." She said.

"Holly?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for telling me." He said sincerely.

"You deserved to know." Holly said. "Bye Luke."

"Bye." He said.

* * *

"Alright what's up?" Tristan said as he glanced up at Holly who was sat on the other couch in their dorm.

"What do you mean?" Holly said.

"Well, you haven't turned a page of your book in the last half hour so I know something must be wrong." He said.

She sighed. "Is it so bad that I've been dating Jess for a week and I'm already lying to him?"

"Uh oh..." He said. "What did you do?"

"I told Luke he was here." She admitted. "I needed to let Luke know he was ok. He's been worried."

"You told Luke?" A voice said.

Holly looked up to see Jess walking into the dorm. "Well it's too late to keep lying now..."

"You told Luke..." He repeated.

"I'll leave you to it." Tristan said getting up and making himself scarce.

"I needed to tell him you were ok, Jess. And I understand if you're mad at me but I had to do it. He's been worried about you since the day you left. He cares about you. I wouldn't be able to look at him if I didn't tell him." She said.

"But I asked you not to. I said I would tell him when I was ready." Jess said.

"I know. But..." She sighed. "I have no excuse. I just needed to tell him." She admitted. "I'm really sorry, Jess. I really am. I felt awful going against you but..."

"You felt awful lying to Luke." He sighed sitting down. "I guess I can get that..."

"Do you hate me?" Holly asked.

"Do you think I could ever hate you?" Jess said.

Holly smiled slightly. "Well, there were times..."

Jess smirked slightly. "Yeah ok. But I'm not mad."

"You're not?" She asked relieved.

"I get it. You would have hated lying to Luke's face when you go home in a few weeks. I get it." He said.

"I didn't tell him we were dating. I felt like that would be too much for him to keep from my mom." Holly sighed. "Not that he has kept this from my mom..." She said as her cell rang. "Talking of my mom..."

"Wow, Luke worked quick..." Jess said dryly.

"You don't know if he told her..." Holly said.

"Yeah right. Because Luke could easily keep something from Lorelai Gilmore." He said.

"Ok true but shhh!" She said. "Hi mom!" She answered her phone, gesturing for Jess to keep quiet.

"Hi, we need to talk." Lorelai said.

"Oh yeah? Uh...about what?" Holly said nervously.

"I think we both know what." She said.

"Uh...did you speak to Luke?" She sighed.

"What?" Lorelai said confused. "No, why?"

"Oh..uh..no reason!" Holly said quickly.

"Ok..." She said slowly. "Anyway, we need to talk about why you're not keeping your part of the deal in calling me!" She said. "You promised you'd keep me updated with what's going on."

She sighed a breath of relief. "Oh...yeah..sorry, this first week's just been crazy." She said. "You know with the classes and roommate bonding and stuff..." She said waving Jess off her when he tried to kiss her cheek. "Stop it!" She said knowing he was trying to distract her.

"What?" Lorelai said confused.

"Oh no, not you!" Holly said, glaring at Jess who was smirking. "It's just..." She said glancing at Jess. "Tristan..." She said.

"Oh right! Well say hi to him from me! All the roommate bonding's going well then? It's not weird?" She asked.

"No, it's actually really nice. It's like having a bit of home here with me." Holly smiled softly at Jess.

"Aw that's sweet!" Lorelai smiled. "Anyway, I'll let you go. Ring me soon yeah?"

"I promise." Holly nodded. "Bye mom." She said softly.

"Bye hon." She said.

Holly hung up and glanced at Jess. "So...Luke didn't tell her..."

"So it seems..." He said. "Huh."

"So at least it won't mean her flying out here to kill you." She joked.

"True. But when she does eventually find out and find out we're dating, she's going to do worse than that." Jess smirked.

"Well...let's just enjoy what we have now then. We can worry about that later." Holly sighed.

"Sounds good." He chuckled. "Now can I kiss you or are you going to call me Tristan again? Because that is quite a turn off." He teased.

Holly laughed. "Kissing is good." She grinned.

* * *

"Ok we need to stop doing that every time we see each other!" Holly laughed as she, Rory and Lorelai all sat in a heap on the ground outside the Crap Shack.4

"Nope, this is our thing!" Lorelai grinned.

"Plus we've missed you!" Rory nodded.

"Is it crazy that I've missed you too and it's only been a month?" Holly said.

"Nope! I'd think it was crazy if you hadn't missed us." Lorelai joked. "Or maybe you're just having too much fun with your Chilton friends?" She teased.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Jealous I've got some friends other than you?" She teased.

"Nice try but I know you can't love anyone more than me." She grinned.

"Oh well of course." Holly smirked.

"Do you think we should get up?" Rory suggested.

"Probably." Lorelai nodded.

"Maybe in a minute." Holly grinned.

"A minute's good too." Lorelai said. She then grinned at her daughters and pulled them into a hug again. "I'm so happy we're all together again!"

"Me too!" Rory grinned.

"Me three!" Holly laughed.

* * *

"So...you're getting on well with your roommates?" Rory asked later that evening as she and Holly prepared snacks in the kitchen while Lorelai was choosing a movie in the living room.

"Yeah. You know, it's weird. I mean, I always got on with Tristan but Madeline and Louise were always more your and Paris' friends and I just tagged along. But they're actually pretty cool." Holly said.

"That's good. I'm glad you're getting on with them." She smiled. "And that Matt guy?"

"Yeah he's cool. He's fit in like he went to Chilton with us." Holly said.

"And...Jess?" Rory said glancing through to the living room and lowering her voice.

She glanced at her sister and ducked her head slightly. "Jess is good." She said.

"And you two?"

"We're good." She smiled softly.

"And you're happy?" Rory checked.

"I'm very happy." Holly nodded.

"Ok. Good." She said as they headed through to the living room.

"So is Paris still driving you crazy?" Holly grinned.

"Pretty much." Rory rolled her eyes.

"You two ready?" Lorelai asked.

"Yep!" Rory smiled settling down on the couch.

"Yeah, I just need to call Je...uh...Tristan..." Holly said catching herself before she slipped up.

"Tristan huh?" Lorelai said.

"Yeah..uh..I said I'd call just to check in." She said. "I won't be long!" She said quickly before disappearing quickly to her room.

"So she's calling Tristan? Is there anything happening there I should know about?" Lorelai raised her eyebrows at Rory.

Rory couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "No, mom, I can confidently say that there's nothing going on between Holly and Tristan." She said.

"Why not? What do you know?" Lorelai said.

"Oh nothing. I just...they're just good friends. I don't see Holly going there, that's all." She said.

Meanwhile, in Holly's bedroom, she was lying on the bed with her cell to he ear. She smiled when she heard a familiar voice answer. "Hey..." She smiled softly.

**So I hope you liked it! :) Please let me know what you think. Thank you again for all your support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**


	16. Chapter 15

**Thank you for your continued support and I'm sorry about the delay! :) Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 15

Everyone was gathering for a town meeting and Lorelai, Holly and Rory were sat together in one of the rows.

"Excuse me, can my girlfriend and I sit here? This is my girlfriend." Kirk said walking down a row.

"Hi." Lulu smiled.

"Hi." One of the townspeople said.

"My girlfriend and I appreciate it." Kirk said sitting down with her.

"Kirk's still excited huh?" Holly said.

"Oh yeah." Lorelai nodded.

"Hey guys!" Lane smiled appearing and sitting next to them.

"Hi!" Holly grinned.

"Hey." Rory smiled.

"Get this. I just found the most amazing guitarist! He was cool on the phone and we're meeting him tomorrow." Lane said excitedly.

"That's great." Holly said.

"I'm trying not to get my hopes up but I've already figured out that our Spin cover should be against a blood red backdrop with a skull hovering over us." She grinned.

"Oh, well, very Norman Rockwell." Lorelai nodded.

"That woman's staring at me." Rory said looking up at the stage.

"Oh, Mrs. Van-uppity? Well, maybe you're just her type." Lorelai joked.

"People, thank you for assembling on such short notice." Taylor said. "As you know, every year one lucky town in Connecticut gets to host 'The Festival of Living Pictures,' a show which presents onstage recreations of famous works of art, statues, paintings, etc, with real people posing as the figures in the art. We hosted it seven years ago. Successfully, I might add."

"Yeah, it was a blast." Holly said.

"Definitely." Lorelai nodded.

"It's a challenge, people, but doable. Now, I would like to introduce you to a key player in our execution of this endeavor, the head of the Connecticut Arts Council, Buff Otis." He said.

"Hey, it's your future wife." Lorelai grinned.

"Shut up." Rory said.

"Would you like to say a few words, Mrs. Otis?" Taylor said.

"Your enthusiasm...shocks me." She said.

"Is that good?" Holly whispered.

"Hard to tell." Rory said.

"I will be managing the event and emceeing. Uh...Miss Patty, you will be stage-managing. Lorelai, if you could help organise the costumes?" Taylor said.

"I'm here for you and your sexy beard, Taylor." Lorelai said.

"Everyone should sign up now if you want to be considered to be cast in one of the recreations. Mrs. Otis and I will make the final decisions." He said. "This is an enormous challenge, people, but I say we do it and do it well. Meeting adjourned."

Rory and Holly stand up to go. "Wait." Lorelai said.

"Why?" Rory said.

"I want to see if she asks you out." She grinned.

Holly laughed and Rory rolled her eyes. "We're going to Luke's." She said.

15 minutes later, Lorelai, Holly and Rory were sitting at a table at Luke's.

"I wonder if I want to be something other than the Renoir girl." Lorelai said.

"I'm sorry, the audience has come to expect you in the role of Renoir girl. You can't disappoint them. It's a plum role." Rory said.

"Yeah, and you're the spit of the Renoir girl." Holly nodded.

"True, true." Lorelai said.

"Sorry I took so long. Hey Rory, Holly." Luke smiled at them.

"Hey Luke!" Rory smiled.

"Hi." Holly smiled.

"Hey, what was the town meeting about?" He asked.

"Oh it's just more about 'The Festival of Living Pictures'." Lorelai said.

"Oh joy." Luke said sarcastically.

"His lack of enthusiasm shocks me." Lorelai joked.

"You're still thinking of involving yourself in this thing? It's such a stupid waste of time." Luke said.

"Hey, I just thought of the perfect painting for Luke to be in, 'Cranky Guy in Baseball Cap.'" She grinned.

"Was that Manet or Monet?" Holly grinned.

"That was mustard on my hamburger and a side of fries, please." Lorelai smiled sweetly up at Luke.

"She's the queen of segues." Rory said.

"She's the queen of something." Luke smirked. "You want your usual?" He asked Rory and Holly.

"Yes, please." Rory smiled. "Hey, maybe I'll just be a backstage person this year. There's less pressure." She said.

"Yeah sounds good." Holly nodded. "Hey Luke, I'll help you!" She said getting up and following him over to the counter.

"You know I'm not going to actually allow you in the kitchen." Luke raised his eyebrows at Holly.

"I know. I just..." She said glancing back to see her mom engrossed in a conversation with Rory. "He's ok." She said lowering her voice.

Luke glanced up at her. "Yeah?" He said.

Holly nodded. "And...uh...I wanted to thank you. For not saying anything." She said. "I know it must have been hard for you to not tell her."

Luke sighed. "It's going to be the only time." He said.

"Thanks." She said quietly. "Oh god, what are they doing?" Holly laughed seeing Taylor and Buff Otis out the window gesturing to Rory.

"You're really questioning Taylor's actions?" Luke said smirking slightly.

"Good point." Holly laughed.

"He's really ok?" Luke asked.

Holly glanced at him. "Yeah." She nodded. "He's really ok." She smiled softly.

"Good." He said gruffly.

* * *

Lorelai, Holly and Rory were doing laundry at the Crap Shack.

"It's humiliating!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You and the Renoir girl, it was a lock." Rory said.

"Yeah, until this smear campaign!" She said.

"So, who did they pick for the Renoir girl?" Holly asked.

"Carol Dandridge." She grumbled.

"Who?" Holly said.

"Stupid Carol Dandruff from now on!" Lorelai said.

"Ok now, don't take it out on poor Carol. It's not like she lobbied for it." Rory said.

"I bet she did. That would be just like that old porky, doody-dridge." Lorelai grumbled.

"Oh wow. You're really bummed about this, aren't you?" Holly said.

"On the outside, I am a mature adult who's able to put setbacks like this in their proper place and on the inside, I just want to wear that pretty dress again!" She pouted.

"You will." Rory said.

"Yeah, if a brick lands on Taylor's head and he suddenly likes me again." She said.

"You don't need a brick. You have me. I'll take care of it." She said.

"Ooh you're plotting something!" Holly grinned.

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai said.

"You are going to be the Renoir girl, end of story." She said.

"How?"

"Well, if they want an Anthea for 'Portrait of a Young Girl Named Anthea,' then they're going to have to have you for the Renoir girl." Rory grinned.

"Well, look at you folding your laundry all haughty and powerful!" Lorelai grinned.

"Wow, Yale really has changed you!" Holly teased.

"I think I'll wait until the Anthea costume is perfectly fitted to my specifications. Then we won't have no surprises." Rory said.

"I am in awe." Lorelai said.

"Now I feel a bit like your second favourite kid..." Holly teased as her cell rang. She glanced down at the caller id and hesitated.

"Who is it?" Lorelai asked, glancing at her.

"Oh..uh..Tristan." She lied. "I'll..uh..be a minute." She said rushing off.

* * *

It was the evening of The Festival of the Living Pictures and it was well under way and going smoothly.

"I can't believe Lane let that guitarist in the band." Rory said.

"I think it's cool of her." Holly smiled.

"Oh yeah, very cool!" Rory nodded. "And he was great!"

"Really great." Holly nodded.

"Zach's going to kill her though." Rory smirked.

"Oh yeah!" Holly laughed as they walked up to find their mom waiting at the side of the stage to go out as the Renoir Girl.

"Mom...you ok?" Rory asked.

"Yeah...no." Lorelai said.

"No?" Holly said.

"My heart is going a million miles a second. I feel hot. Is my makeup running?" She asked.

"No, Mom, you look great. What's wrong?" Rory said.

"I flinched." Lorelai admitted.

"What?"

"Seven years ago on this very stage in this very costume, I flinched."

"No, you didn't." Holly frowned.

"Yes, I did. You weren't watching. I was in denial. I just didn't want Taylor to be right but he was. I flinched." Lorelai exclaimed.

"Well, so what?" Holly said. "You flinched a little. I bet most people didn't see it."

"Stevie Wonder could have seen it. I almost knocked Terrence down. I flinched. I am a big, fat flincher!"

"But that was a long time ago."

"Once a flincher, always a flincher."

"Ok you need to get it together." Rory said.

"Yeah, mom, you're freaking out." Holly said.

"You can do this." Rory said.

"Yeah, you can! You'll kill it." Holly nodded.

"How? How can I kill it?" Lorelai said.

"Because you can."

"No specifics?"

"Close your eyes and think of England." Rory said.

"What?" Holly laughed.

"Ok..." Lorelai said.

"And know that we love you no matter what happens up there and go be still." Rory said.

Lorelai let out a big breath and nodded. "Ok." She said, walking on the stage to get ready.

"Come on, mom." Rory said quietly.

"She's got this." Holly said.

They watched as Taylor introduced her and her and Jackson appeared infront of the curtain. After a moment, suddenly there was some beeping.

"Uh oh." Holly said.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Rory exclaimed.

"What is that?" Miss Patty said.

"It's Sookie's baby pager." Holly said. "Keep frozen. Keep frozen." She urged their mom.

"She's done it!" Rory exclaimed. "Come on." She told Holly.

The two of them rush off and meet up with their mom and then the three of them rushed off to Sookie's house.

* * *

"Wow, long day." Holly said as the three of them finally returned home after a long evening.

"Good day though." Rory smiled.

"Amazing day." Lorelai smiled.

"Davey was the cutest." Holly said.

"Wasn't he just?" Lorelai said.

"And Sookie and Jackson were so happy." Rory smiled.

"They deserve to be happy." Holly smiled just as her cell rang.

"Tristan again?" Lorelai asked casually.

"Uh...yeah..." She said. "I'm going to call it a night anyway. Night."

"Night hon..." Lorelai said watching her disappear off to her room.

"I'm going to take a shower and then do the same." Rory said.

"Ok night." She said watching her other daughter head upstairs. She started heading towards the stairs before stopping. She glanced towards the hallway before slowly heading towards Holly's room. She could hear her laughing on the phone. She hesitated before opening the door. "Hey, I forgot to say..."

"Jess, you're crazy, you know that right?" Holly laughed but froze when she saw her mom. "Mom?!"

"Jess?" Lorelai said shocked. "You're talking to Jess?"

**Hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I really enjoy reading what you all think. :) Thanks again for all the support!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Here's the next chapter! Sorry it's a bit shorter but I wanted to get something up for you guys as I am going away for the weekend again. :)**

Chapter 16

"Jess, I have to go." Holly said into the phone. "Yeah..uh..I'll call you later. Ok bye." She said hanging up. "Mom..."

"You were talking to Jess?" Lorelai said still shocked.

"Well you heard me say his name so I can't really deny it..." Holly sighed.

"How long have you been in touch with Jess?" She said.

"Uh...well..."

"Holly!" She exclaimed.

"He turned up my first day at Stanford. I...couldn't turn him away." Holly admitted.

"Why not?"

"Because he's my friend! He had nothing! He was broken, mom!" She exclaimed.

"Good! He deserves to be broken!" Lorelai snapped.

"Mom!"

"No, you don't get to mom me!" Lorelai shook her head. "Jess left without saying goodbye remember? You were pissed with him! A friend doesn't do that!"

"I wasn't pissed, I was upset!"

"Same thing!"

"It's not the same thing. Jess is my friend, mom. He turned up at my door, broken. I couldn't turn him away." Holly said.

"So what, he stayed with you for a bit?" Lorelai scoffed.

"He's staying with me." Holly said.

"Wait, what?" She exclaimed.

"Like I said, I couldn't just turn him away. He had nowhere to go." Holly said crossing her arms against the chest.

"Holly, you're at Stanford. You need to concentrate on your studies and not let him screw that up! I'm sure there's somewhere he can go. What about his home?" Lorelai snapped.

"What, with his mom? You know as well as me that things are good there. Why do you think he was sent to Luke's?"

"I don't really care." Lorelai said. "I care about you, Holly. And I'm not going to have him screw things up for you again."

"What the hell is going on?" Rory exclaimed. "I can hear you from upstairs!"

"Mom knows about Jess." Holly said.

"What? She knows about you dating?" Rory asked.

"Wait, what?" Lorelai exclaimed shocked.

Rory cringed. "I guess you hadn't got that far yet..." She said, sending Holly an apologetic look.

"Nope..." Holly said.

"You and Jess are dating?" Lorelai demanded. "And you knew!" She whipped round on Rory.

"I..uh..." Rory said.

"Yes! Yes ok? Jess and I are dating and I'm really happy! To be honest, it's been a long time coming." Holly snapped.

"This is not happening." She said shaking her head.

"You can't stop it happening because it is happening." Holly said. "Jess and I are together and you can't do anything to stop that."

"He's a screwed up kid and he's going to hurt you!" Lorelai shouted.

"Well that's my decision to make!"

"No it's not. I'm your mom and what I say, goes."

"Not anymore!" Holly shouted.

"I can't do this." Lorelai said shaking her head, heading for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Holly exclaimed.

"Out!"

"Very mature." Holly mumbled as Lorelai slammed the door shut.

"I'm so sorry. I assumed you'd told her..." Rory sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine." She sighed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lorelai went over to Luke's. "I'm sorry I barged in." She said pacing around his apartment.

"It's ok. Is everything ok?" Luke asked glancing at her.

"Jess has been staying with Holly. Can you believe that?" She blurted out. "All this time she was in California, he was staying with her and she's been lying to me all this time! All these secret phone calls she's been getting, it's been him! Not Tristan, him!" She exclaimed. "Can you believe it?"

"Uh...well..." Luke said awkwardly.

Lorelai stopped and turned to look at him. "You don't seem very surprised..." She said slowly. She saw him hesitate as well. "Oh my god, you did knew! And you didn't tell me?!" She exclaimed.

"I didn't think it would do any good at all if I told you." He sighed.

"Why not?" Lorelai snapped. "Don't you think you owed it to me to tell me?"

"Owed it to you?" Luke frowned. "Lorelai, if I told you, you'd be on the first flight over there ready to kill him."

"So?"

"So...Jess and I may not have ended on good terms but he is still my nephew. He is still my family." Luke said.

"He's a screwed up kid and he's going to hurt my daughter!" Lorelai shouted.

"Lorelai, please, I don't want to fight about this. I don't see what the big deal is. They're friends and Holly's just helping a friend out. You should be proud of Holly." He said.

"Friend, yeah, good one!" She scoffed.

"What are you on about?" Luke frowned.

"You think they're friends? Wait until he forces her into sex!" Lorelai shouted angrily.

"Wait, what?" Luke exclaimed.

"You didn't know?" She said surprised.

"Didn't know what?"

"Apparently they're more than friends. Apparently that punk of a nephew of yours has managed to win my daughter round and now they're dating." She snapped. "I can't believe I didn't do anything about them when I could. I thought she was safe from the likes of him when she left for California and he disappeared. But he's wormed his way back!"

"Get out." Luke said.

"What?" She said shocked.

Luke took a deep breath. "I get that you're angry that Holly lied to you and that you and Jess aren't exactly fans of each other. I can even sort of understand why you're dubious about Jess. But he is still my nephew. He's my family and if you want to talk about him like that, I'd rather you didn't do it to me." He said firmly.

Lorelai was quiet for a moment before glaring at him. "Well, I'm sorry. I thought you would care about Holly getting hurt. My mistake." She snapped before storming out.

* * *

Holly heard her mom slam the front door shut, indicating that she had returned. She assumed she would go upstairs so she was surprised when her bedroom door flew open. "Got a second wind?" She said sarcastically.

"Don't be smart with me!" Lorelai warned. "Serioulsy, you told Rory, you told Luke? Why?"

"Because I knew how you'd react if I told you! I'm glad I was wrong." Holly exclaimed.

"That boy is going to hurt you!" She said.

"Jess is not going to hurt me! You don't even know him!" She said.

"I know enough!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You don't! You don't know him at all! Mom, there's this whole side to him that you haven't seen. You need to trust me!"

"I trust you. I don't trust him." She said.

"Well you can trust him. Because I trust him, mom. I really like him. I...I think I'm falling for him." Holly admitted.

"Oh god..." Lorelai groaned.

"What?" Holly frowned.

"This has gotten too deep. Holly, Jess is going to hurt you. He's a screwed up kid and he's going to screw everything up for you!" She said.

"Stop! Just stop it!" She exclaimed. "Nothing you say is going to break me and Jess up so forget it!"

"Holly..."

"No!" She snapped, getting up.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Packing! I'm going back to Stanford." Holly snapped.

"No way! Not with him there." She shook her head.

"Seriously?" She scoffed. "You're going to stop me going back to Stanford? You say that Jess will distract me from my studies but here you are actually preventing me from going back to my studies."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Look, Holly, I know you think you're falling for Jess. I know you really believe he's a good guy. But I know guys like Jess. They only want one thing." She said.

"So you think Jess couldn't possibly like me for any other reason? You think the only reason he would ever want to be with me is so he can have sex with me?" Holly said hurt.

"That's not what I meant." She said.

"That's what you said. I'm leaving." Holly said.

"No! Luke may not want to do something about Jess but I will. I forbid you to see him." Lorelai said.

"What are you on about?" She exclaimed.

"I forbid you to see him. I think that's pretty clear."

"No about Luke!"

"Well Luke seems to think Jess is family even though Jess was a jerk to him! Apparently me trying to talk some sense into him was wrong!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Luke defended Jess?" Holly said surprised.

"I have no idea why." Lorelai grumbled.

"I've had enough of this. I'm leaving." She said.

"You're not leaving."

"You can't stop me!" Holly snapped, pushing past me.

"You walk out that door, missy, and don't expect to come back." Lorelai warned.

Holly stopped and looked back at her mom, shocked. "What?" She said.

"You heard me." She said crossing her arms against her chest.

"I thought moms were meant to support their daughters." Holly said quietly.

"Moms are meant to protect their daughters and this is what I'm doing. I'm being serious, Holly. You walk out that door and you're not coming back. You've got to choose." She said.

"What, between Jess or you? What sort of sick ultimatum is that?" Holly said stunned.

"I mean it, Holly. You go back to Jess, you won't be coming back here." Lorelai said firmly.

Holly blinked back tears. "Well...at least Jess will respect me and support me." She said tremulously.

"Holly..."

"Bye mom." She said quietly before turning round and leaving the room, walking past a shocked Rory who was standing in the hallway having heard the whole argument.

**So I hope you liked it! :) Please let me know what you think. Your reviews really motivate me and I really appreciate all the support you've given me so thank you! :)**


	18. Chapter 17

**Sorry about the delay! Hope you're still with me. :) Thank you for your support! :) Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 17

Holly unlocked the door to her dorm suite in Stanford and went inside. She saw her roommates and Jess in the living room. "Hey..." She said quietly.

"Hey." Jess said getting up and going over to hug her. "How are you doing?"

Holly just shrugged. It had been a long flight. She glanced over at her roommates and then at the table where there was lots of food and a selection of movies. "What's all this?" She asked.

"We figured you might need cheering up." Tristan said.

"We've got a bunch of junk food." Matt said.

"And coffee!" Louise smiled.

"And a selection of your favourite movies!" Madeline smiled.

"You did all this...for me?" Holly said touched.

"It was Jess' idea." Madeline said.

"Nah, everyone chipped in." Jess said humbly.

"You did all this for me..." Holly said softly.

"We wanted to cheer you up." Jess said.

Holly smiled tremulously at her friends. "I don't know what to say." She said.

"Then don't." Tristan smiled.

"Yeah let's eat!" Matt smiled.

"And drink!" Louise grinned.

"And watch movies!" Madeline grinned.

"You up for it?" Jess asked softly. "We don't have to. We just thought maybe...you'd like it..."

"It's...exactly what I need." Holly smiled at them gratefully. "Thank you."

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" Rory exclaimed earlier that day pacing around the living room.

"I did it for Holly's best interest!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You told her not to come back home!" Rory shouted. "This is her home, mom!"

"She could have chosen us. I gave her a choice!" She tried to defend herself.

"No, mom, you gave her an ultimatum!" Rory said. "Who does that?"

"Jess is bad for her! I know guys like him!" Lorelai said.

Rory sighed. "Mom, Holly loves Jess. She was never going to just dump him."

"She loves him?" She said surprised. "She's told you that?"

"Well...no. But she's happier than I've ever seen her and I'm pretty sure that's down to Jess. They have been dating for two months now..." She said.

"Jess is bad news." Lorelai repeated. "I'm not going to let him hurt her!"

"Yeah, well your methods have had her run back to him and now she thinks she's not welcome back here. Good job, mom!" Rory snapped, heading upstairs. She went into her room, grabbed her bag and packed some of her things before heading back downstairs.

"Wait, where are you going?" Lorelai said.

"Back to Yale." Rory mumbled.

"Rory..."

"I need space." She said. "I need to see if my sister still wants to even talk to me."

"Ror..."

"Don't." Rory shook her head. She sighed. "I'll see you Friday for dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's."

Lorelai sighed. "Ok. Fine." She said reluctantly.

"Bye." She said quietly before leaving her mom alone.

* * *

"I say we play a game!" Madeline suggested after they'd finished their second movie.

"Ooh how about strip poker?" Louise grinned.

"Why did we let those two drink?" Tristan smirked.

"We should have given them the coffee." Jess said.

"Hey, you love us like this! We're more fun like this!" Louise grinned.

Holly laughed. "We love you guys no matter what." She said.

"How about truth or dare?" Matt suggested.

"Ooh and if you forfeit, you need to take a shot!" Louise said.

Holly smirked. "Deal!"

"Are you sure?" Jess said. "You don't want to call it a night?"

"No." She said. "I think I need this."

"You sure?" He asked.

She smiled at the concern in Jess' voice. "I'm sure." She said softly.

"Ok, who wants to go first?" Madeline asked.

"I will!" Holly raised her hand.

"Truth or dare?" Louise asked.

"Truth." She said.

"Ok...have you and Jess had sex yet? And if so, how was it?" Louise smirked.

"Seriously?" Jess said.

"Hey, she doesn't have to answer if she doesn't want to." Louise said.

Holly smirked. "It's fine, Jess. And no, we haven't yet. We're...waiting for the right time." She said, glancing at Jess and smiling softly which he reciprocated. "Jess, truth or dare?" She said.

"Dare." Jess said immediately.

"I dare you to ring Luke." She said.

"What?" He said surprised. "No way."

"You need to take a shot if you forfeit." Madeline said.

"Jess, he defended you, you know." Holly said softly. "My mom went to him to rant about us and he told her to get out. He told her that you were family and if she wanted to talk to him about you the way she did, he didn't want to hear it."

"Huh." Jess said.

"Are you going to ring him or not?" Louise said, holding out a shot glass.

Jess glanced at Holly before taking the shot glass and downing it. "Not." He said.

Holly sighed. "Ok, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that."

"It's fine." He said.

"No, really. I just...I'm sorry." She said.

"It's fine." He assured her. "It's cool." He said giving her a kiss.

"Tristan, truth or dare?" Louise asked.

"Truth." He said.

"Out of Madeline, Holly and me, who do you fancy the most and who would you most like to sleep with?" Louise smirked.

"Answer carefully, Dugrey." Jess said raising his eyebrows.

* * *

Holly smiled over at Jess as she came into her bedroom later that evening after having taken a shower. "Long day..." She sighed collapsing onto her bed.

"Yeah..." He said. "How are you doing?" He asked. "And don't say fine because I know you." He said.

She sighed. "I don't know." She answered honestly.

"Ok." Jess said.

"But tonight has been nice. Just...being here with you guys and everyone just being here for me without asking me about stuff. It's nice to know I've got a good group of friends here." Holly said

"I know it's only been two months and I'm still a bit of an outsider but...we're like a family here. Well, I think we are. They care about you, Hol." Jess said. "I do too. Obviously."

Holly smiled. "Like I said, I'm lucky to have you guys." She said softly.

"Night Gilmore." He smiled softly.

"Night." She smiled. She glanced over at him. "Hey Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not an outsider here." She said. "And...uh..."

"Yeah?" Jess said.

"I..I love you." Holly said. She saw his shocked expression. "I know. You don't have to say anything. Really you don't. I just...I know it's been two months but all this...tonight. You know me, Jess. You know me so well." She said softly.

"Tonight was everyone's idea..." He said.

"I'm sure everyone chipped in and I'm touched but...they don't know me like you. You knew this would cheer me up. You know me. And I'm so glad I chose to come back to you because...because..." She said tremulously.

"Hey..." Jess said softly, coming over to her bed and pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sorry. I told myself I wouldn't cry..." She sniffed.

"It's ok." He said, holding her close.

"She made me choose..." Holly cried. "Who does that? She made me choose between you and her..."

"Hey." Jess said softly. "It's ok."

"I love you, Jess. I love you and I don't want to lose you." She cried. "Even if it means losing...her..."

"You're not going to lose me. No matter what. You are not going to lose me." He assured her.

"Ok." She said quietly.

"Hey Hol?"

"Yeah?"

"I...love you too." Jess said after a moment.

"Lie down with me for a bit?" She said.

"Sure." He said lying down on the top of the bed with her.

"Thank you." She said tiredly, snuggling into him. "Are you sure you're ok here?"

Jess smiled. "I'm just fine." He said softly. "You sleep. I'll be fine."

"Ok." Holly said yawning. "Night Jess."

"Night." Jess smiled giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "Night Holly." He said softly.

* * *

The next morning, Holly woke up to knocking on the door of her dorm suite. She glanced over at the clock and saw it was only 8 in the morning. She then glanced at Jess who was asleep next to her. He must have stayed there all night. She heard the knocking again so she carefully and quietly got up and left her bedroom. She went over to the door and opened it. "Rory..." She said shocked. "What...what are you doing here?"

**So I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! :) Thank you again for your continued support. I really do appreciate all of it! :)**


	19. Chapter 18

**Thanks for all your continued support! Here's the next chapter! :)**

Chapter 18

"What are you doing here?" Holly asked stunned to see her sister standing infront of her.

"I needed to see you. I needed to make sure you were still speaking to me." Rory said.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Holly said confused.

"Well...because of what happened and what mom said and because I was the one who let slip you and Jess were dating in the first place..." Rory said.

Holly sighed. "It's not your fault. She would have found out somehow anyway." She said. "You really flew all the way here just to make sure I was speaking to you?"

"You're my sister. I wanted to make sure you were ok. And...I want to make sure we will still see each other." She said.

"Rory, I'm not mad at you. You can come and see me whenever you want and I'm sure I will come and see you in Yale sometimes as well."

"Just not in Stars Hollow..." Rory said.

"I think mom made it clear that I wasn't welcome back." Holly said quietly.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it..."

"If you've come to defend her, you can just turn around and go home." Holly warned.

"I haven't! I just...I don't want you to just never come home. It's not home without you." Rory said.

"This is my home now." Holly said.

"Hol..."

"I'm fine." She said.

"Are you sure?" Rory said.

"I'm fine." She repeated.

"Hey, who was at the door?" Tristan said appearing from his room without a top on.

"Really? You don't know who's at the door but you still don't put a top on?" Holly raised her eyebrows.

"You never know if it's going to be a hot girl. Hey Mary!" Tristan smirked.

"Oh..hey.." Rory said awkwardly.

"You girls hungry? I was going to make breakfast." He said.

"Yes please!" Holly grinned. "Tristan makes the best pancakes."

"Even better than Luke's?" Rory smiled slightly.

"No pancakes are better than Luke's." Holly said. "But Tristan's are pretty good."

"Wow, praise indeed!" Tristan smirked.

"Come, come sit down." Holly said as Jess appeared from their room.

"Oh hey!" Jess said surprised to see Rory.

"Hi." Rory smiled at him.

"I'm making pancakes. You want any?" Tristan asked him.

"Yeah thanks." Jess nodded. "You ok?" He asked Rory.

"Yeah I'm ok. I..uh..wanted to make sure Holly was." She said.

Jess nodded, joining them on the couch. A few moments later, Tristan came over with the pancakes. "I'll leave you guys to it." He said heading towards his room.

"You're right. These nearly are as good as Luke's." Rory said.

Holly grinned. "Told ya!"

Rory glanced at her. "Apparently mom's circled the square ten times already. Lane said she kept looking into Luke's but she hasn't gone in."

"Typical." She shook her head.

"What?"

"Look, Luke and mom belong together but I'm not going to take the blame if she's screwed up one of the good things in her life. She finally found her guy. A really good guy and she was the one who screwed it up. I'm not taking the blame for it!" Holly said firmly.

"I wasn't blaming you..." Rory said quietly.

Holly sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I just...everyone is going to blame me. The whole town wanted mom and Luke together. They're going to blame me."

"Well...not exactly..." She said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

Rory glanced at Jess. "Well...Lane said that apparently everyone has been bringing Jess up with Luke. They were saying he should never have taken him in."

"I..uh..I'm going to head in there." Jess said nodding towards Holly's room.

"He's been defending you all morning." Rory said.

"What?" Jess said.

"He's been throwing out anyone who's been badmouthing you. Lane's worried they won't have any customers at all today." She said.

"Huh." He said before heading to Holly's room.

"Luke's been defending Jess?" Holly asked.

"Apparently." Rory nodded.

Holly sighed. "I never wanted to get between mom and Luke. I thought...I really thought we'd finally get a step father." She admitted.

"Would have been cool huh?" Rory smiled softly.

"Yeah. Really cool." Holly said.

"You could try and talk to mom..." She said quietly.

"No, she made it perfectly clear that if I chose Luke, I would not be welcome home. Well I've made my choice." She said.

Rory sighed. "I just wish things could be normal again. I...I'm going to miss you at home."

"I'm going to miss you too. But this was mom's decision. And I'm going to still see you. We're still us, Ror. Nothing will change that." She said.

"Really?" Rory said relieved.

"You're my sister. I'm not going to lose you as well." Holly said softly.

Rory smiled and hugged her. "Thank you." She said.

"Can you stay for the weekend?" She asked.

"Sure. If that's ok?"

"Of course!" Holly smiled.

* * *

Rory, Holly, Madeline, Louise, Matt and Tristan were all sat in the living room that evening.

"Where's Jess? He said he'd only be a few minutes. We want to start this movie!" Madeline said.

"I'll go get him. You start it and we'll join you in a bit." Holly said.

"Ok!" Madeline smiled turning on the movie. "Hey Rory, it's really cool you came to visit! It's so good to see you." She said.

Holly smiled slightly as she heard them chatting away. She headed towards her room and opened the door slightly but stopped when she heard Jess on the phone. She stopped and listened.

"Hey..uh..it's me..." Jess said hesitantly.

"Jess?" Luke said shocked.

"Yeah..." Jess said quietly.

"Uh..hey.." He said surprised.

"Hey..." He said.

"Are you ok?" Luke asked.

"Yeah." Jess said.

"Good. That's..uh..good." He said.

"I hope you don't mind me calling but..uh..I heard you've been defending me all week. I figured I owed it to you to ring you and..uh..say thanks." Jess said awkwardly.

"Oh..uh..how...?" Luke said surprised.

"Lane."

"Oh." He said.

Jess let out a breath. "You need to talk to Lorelai." He said.

"What?" He said surprised.

"I've screwed up so many things in my life. I screwed things up with you. I'm already the reason why Holly and Lorelai aren't speaking. I'm not going to be the reason why you and Lorelai break up. I'm done screwing things up so you need to talk to her." Jess insisted.

"Jess..."

"You need to talk to her! Promise me, you'll talk to her." Jess said.

Luke sighed. "Ok. I promise." He said.

"Ok good. That's good. Thanks." Jess said gruffly.

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"It's really good to hear from you." Luke said softly.

Jess sighed and sat down on the bed. "Yeah?"

Luke smiled. "Yeah." He said softly.

Jess smiled slightly. "I..uh..I'm sorry for..."

"Don't." Luke said. "You don't have to..."

"I do." Jess said. "I'm sorry for being a jerk to you."

"It's forgotten." He said.

"What?" He said surprised.

Luke sighed. "Look, Jess, you weren't exactly the best housemate I had. Yes, you frustrated me. Yes, you even angered me sometimes. But you're family. You're my family and I don't have much family left. So it's forgotten. Ok?"

"Ok." Jess said stunned. "Luke, I..."

"I know." He said. He sighed. "You're really ok right?"

"Yeah, I'm ok." Jess nodded.

"Good." He said. "And you and Holly?"

"We're good too." He said smiling slightly. "I won't hurt her..."

"I know you won't."

Jess let out a breath. "I..uh..I should go. They're all waiting for me. Talk to Lorelai ok? Grovel if you have to. Tell her she's more important than me. Just do anything ok? You two belong together. You should be together. Promise me you'll talk to her."

"I promise." Luke said. "Bye nephew." He smiled softly.

"Bye Uncle Luke." Jess said softly. He hung up and heard a noise by the door. He turned to see Holly standing there sheepishly. "Oh hey..."

"You called Luke..." She said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to listen in. I just...I didn't want to interrupt."

"It's ok." He said. "It..uh..it was time. I owed it to him to ring him. I needed to say thanks."

"And to tell him to talk to my mom?" Holly said.

"I didn't want to screw anything else up for him. He doesn't deserve it." Jess shrugged. "He and your mom belong together. Anyone can see it. I've already screwed things up between you and your mom. I didn't want to be the reason Luke and her broke up as well." He said.

"Hey, you didn't screw things up between me and my mom. She did that herself." Holly said softly.

"Yeah but it was about me." He said. "I'm going to sort this."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to sort my life out. I'm going to get a job and I'm going to prove to your mom that I'm good enough for you." Jess said.

"You are good enough for me. You don't have to prove anything." Holly said.

"I do. Hol, your family means the world to you. I know this must be killing you but you're trying to stay strong. I want to make things right. So...I'm going to prove to your mom that I'm good enough to be dating her daughter." He said softly.

Holly smiled softly. "Thank you." She said.

"For what?"

"For making me know that I definitely made the right choice." She said softly, leaning in to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you too." Jess smiled.

"I told everyone we'd join them in a bit." She said.

"How long is a bit?" He smirked.

"Well...a bit..." She smiled slightly.

"So we have time to do more of this?" Jess grinned, kissing her again.

"Oh absolutely! I'm sure they won't mind if we take a few more moments." Holly grinned.

"Good to know." He smirked, kissing her again. "Good to know."

* * *

Lorelai was watching tv when she heard the doorbell ring. She frowned, confused about who would come at this time. She got up and went to the door and opened it. "Luke?" She said surprised. He was the last person she thought she would see standing there.

**I hope you liked it! :) Please let me know what you think. Your support really does mean so much to me so thank you again! :)**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey! I know it's been a long time, sorry! I kind of got into a rut and got a serious bout of writer's block. But I'm back now and ready to continue with this story so I really hope you're all still with me. :)**

Chapter 19

Holly looked up from the couch when the door to the dorm opened and she smiled as Jess walked in. "How was work?" She asked.

"It was good. Sold some books." He said.

"Well that's good, considering you work in a bookstore." She laughed.

"I thought so too." Jess smirked.

Holly grinned. "So Rory rang." She said.

"Oh yeah?" He said.

"She wanted to know whether we wanted to go to Yale this weekend." She said. "Apparently, it's this big football game. Yale vs Harvard or something. Our Grandpa's kind of shanghaied her into going. I think she just wants some moral support."

"She wants you to go to a football game?" Jess said amused.

"Yes I know! I'm not exactly a football game person but come on, it could be fun. And we'll get to see Rory. And Yale." Holly said. "Please?"

"Sure, why not." He said.

"Yes!" Holly grinned. "I'll ring Rory and let her know." She said, giving Jess a kiss before disappearing into their room.

Jess smiled slightly as he watched her go.

"So you're a football fan?"

Jess turned to see Tristan smirking in the doorway of his room. "Not really. But I know Holly wants to see Rory so...I'm sure I can survive for a day."

"Or you're trying to be a model boyfriend?" He joked.

Jess smirked. "That too."

"Holly spoken to her mom at all yet?" He asked.

Jess sighed. "Not yet. Apparently her mom and Luke got back together though."

"That's good." Tristan said. He watched as Jess just nodded. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Jess said.

"Sure you are."

"Hey, you don't know me ok." He snapped.

"Ok, sorry." Tristan said holding up his hands. "I was just asking."

Jess sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just...I keep thinking how this is all my fault. I know Holly misses her mom and the reason they're not speaking is because of me."

"This isn't your fault..." A voice said.

Jess turned to see Holly reappear. "Holly..."

"The reason my mum and I aren't speaking is on her. This was her choice, not yours."

"But if I hadn't shown up your first day here, if we hadn't..." Jess said.

"I'd still be wishing that you'd ring and that I would get to speak to you again. Jess, you might be my boyfriend now but you were my best friend then. I...I really missed you." She admitted. "So I am glad you showed up. I really am. I made the choice and my mom made the choice. You didn't do anything wrong."

Jess sighed. "But..."

"But nothing. Jess, I love you ok? Stop blaming yourself." Holly said softly, giving him a kiss. "Ok?"

Jess sighed but gave her a small smile. "Ok." He said softly.

"Ok?" She smiled.

"Ok." He smiled.

"And on that note..." Tristan smirked before disappearing back into his room.

* * *

"Rory!" Holly exclaimed rushing over to her sister and giving her a hug.

"Hey!" Rory grinned, returning her hug. "Hey Jess! Thanks for coming." She smiled at him.

"Thanks for the invite." Jess smiled.

"So come on then, you said there would be tailgating. Let's get to the food!" Holly grinned walking forward to turn the corner.

"Wait! Holly..." Rory said suddenly. She sighed as she saw Holly suddenly freeze.

"What's wrong?" Jess said walking up to her. He followed Holly's gaze.

"Mom's here..." Holly said quietly.

"I know." Rory said quietly. "It was a last minute thing. Grandma and Grandpa mentioned this at dinner and you know what mom's like..."

"Oh I know." Holly said. "Never one to be left out. Typical mom." She said stiffly.

"I really didn't know until the last minute. I would have tried to warn you otherwise..." Rory said.

"What's Luke doing here?" Jess said surprised, suddenly spotting the familiar blue cap.

"Mom dragged him along at the last moment. Think she freaked and wanted some support." Rory said.

"Does mom know that I'm...?" Holly started to ask but got her answer when she saw her mom look up and the surprise on her face said it all. "I guess not..." She said as the three of them walked towards Richard and Emily's special tailgating area.

"Holly..." Lorelai said shocked.

"Hi.." Holly said crossing her arms against her chest. She then smiled and went to hug her grandparents. "Grandma, Grandpa!" She said. "Hey Luke." She smiled.

"Holly, hi." He smiled at her, glancing over at Jess surprised to see him standing there as well.

"Uh..Grandma, Grandpa...this is...uh...Jess...He's my..." Holly started saying.

"Oh we know who he is." Emily said stiffly.

"Emily..." Richard warned.

"This is the boy who left you heartbroken and disappeared without any thought for you or even saying goodbye. This is the boy who treated everyone in your town awfully. Frankly, I don't know why you give him the time of day." Emily said disdainfully.

"You told them about Jess..." Holly turned to her mom, betrayed.

"I just told them the truth. Hol, you were devastated when he left!" Lorelai tried.

"Devastated?" Jess frowned, turning to Holly.

"She cried herself to sleep the night after she found you had left!" Lorelai glared at him.

"Mom!" Holly exclaimed.

"What? It's the truth! How do you know he won't just disappear again?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Because I know he won't!" Holly exclaimed. "You don't know him! You don't even want to try and know him. None of you do! Yes, he may have made some mistakes but he's trying to make up for them. Everyone deserves a second chance!" She said angrily.

"Holly...please..."

"No! Just...I need some space." Holly said storming off, leaving everyone there watching after her.

"Uh...I'm just going to..uh...yeah..." Jess said gesturing to an area away from them and then walking away.

* * *

Holly was watching a group of students sat on the grass, having a picnic, when she felt a presence next to her.

"I need your help." The familiar voice said.

Holly turned and smiled slightly. "It's good to see you again too, Paris." She said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! I need you to take two pictures." Paris said handing her a camera.

"Of what?"

"A picture of me as if we've lost and a picture as if we've won." She said.

"Seriously?" Holly said amused. "Why don't you wait for the game to take the picture?"

"Please, there's no way I can wait until the game. I'm already so bored." Paris said.

Holly smirked. "Ok. We won!" She said taking the photo. "We lost!" She said taking another photo. "We're done." She said handing back the camera.

"Thanks." Paris smiled slightly. "I was going to ask Rory but she was kind of busy." She said gesturing to where everyone was at the table.

Holly sighed and watched her sister obviously try and talk her family round. "Yeah..."

Paris glanced at her. "Rory told me what happened..."

"You think I'm crazy?" Holly guessed.

"No." Paris said.

"What?" She said surprised.

"Well...Jess may not have exactly been a people person from what I saw of him when I came to see you and Rory in Stars Hollow. But neither am I so who am I to judge? He still seemed cool. And it was so obvious he thought the world of you."

"What?" Holly said surprised.

"Come on, anyone would be able to see it. Jess was grumpy with everyone...except you. With you...he was just comfortable. You both were. It was like there was no effort at all." Paris said.

"Wow..." Holly said softly.

"I'm just saying that I get it. When my parents found out I was dating a Princeton guy, I thought they were going to disown me.. But...as they got to know Jamie, they actually came round. They really like him now. And I never thought I'd say anything nice about my parents. If they can come round, your family can too." She said.

Holly smiled softly at her. "Thanks Paris."

* * *

Jess was stood watching a student read a book under a tree when he heard someone come and stand next to him.

"Didn't think I'd see you today." A familiar voice said.

Jess turned to see Luke standing next to him. "Could say the same about you."

Luke smiled slightly. "You look good." He said.

"I see you made up with Lorelai." Jess commented.

"Yeah..." Luke said awkwardly. "Jess, I..."

"It's cool. I'm glad you worked it out." Jess said.

"Jess..."

"It's good to see you too." Jess said gruffly, glancing at him.

Luke smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah alright! Don't trip over that big head of yours..." Jess said smirking slightly.

Luke chuckled. "I see you've still got that leather jacket. I can't believe you wear that in California. Isn't it really hot there?"

"Yup." Jess said.

"So why...you know what, I'm not even going to bother asking." Luke said.

Jess smirked. "So...meeting Lorelai's parents huh?"

"Yeah...I don't think they're a big fan of mine." He sighed.

"Bet they like you better than me." Jess pointed out.

"I guess that's true." Luke teased.

Jess smiled slightly. "It's going to take a miracle to get them all to change their mind, isn't it?" He sighed.

Luke glanced at him. "Are you serious about Holly?"

"What? Of course I am!" Jess said.

"Well then...I think you can handle it. You're serious about Holly, you have to deal with the family. That's what happens when you get into a relationship." Luke said.

"I know." He sighed. "I am trying..."

"I know." Luke said.

Jess glanced at his uncle. "I better go find Holly but...I'm glad you were here. It..uh..It is really good to see you."

"You too, nephew." Luke smiled. "Hey Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Your room's as you left it. It's always there...if you ever need it." Luke said.

Jess glanced at him and then nodded. "Thanks." He said gruffly.

* * *

"So...eventful day..." Jess said as he and Holly headed towards Rory's dorm that evening.

"You could say that again." Holly said.

"You know, your grandparents having an argument kind of took the onus off me." He joked. He saw Holly's look. "Sorry. Too soon?" He said.

Holly just shook her head. "Rory said they didn't speak a word to each other the whole game. I'm kind of glad Rory couldn't get us seats next to them."

"I'm sure they will make up." Jess said.

"I don't know." Holly said. She glanced at Jess. "I'm sorry what my Grandma and my mom said about you..." She said.

"It's fine." He said.

"No it's not. They shouldn't have said that. And I wasn't heartbroken or devastated..." She said.

"Uh huh..."

"Wow big ego or what?" Holly smirked.

Jess chuckled. He then smiled. "I guess I'm more like Luke than I thought..." He joked.

"What?" She laughed.

"Nothing." He chuckled. "Seriously though, you don't need to apologise for them. They were kind of right." He shrugged.

"No they weren't." Holly shook her head.

"Hol, I was a jerk to your mom. I don't blame her for hating me." Jess said. "But...someone wise once told me that if you're in a relationship, you have to deal with the family. It comes as a package deal. I love you ok? Your family can hate me as much as I want but I'm not going to keep trying to prove them wrong."

Holly smiled softly and kissed him. "I love you too." She said. "Thank you for coming today."

"Hey, some of it was cool. It was nice to see Luke and hang out with Rory and her friends. That Marty guy seems cool." Jess said.

"Yeah he does." Holly smiled. "She...They seemed comfortable with each other." She said before laughing slightly.

"What?" Jess said confused.

"Oh nothing. Just something someone wise told me once." She grinned.

Jess chuckled. "Come on, we should catch up with Rory."

"Hey Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming. Seriously. It meant a lot to me." Holly smiled softly.

"No big deal." He shrugged.

"It is a big deal." She said softly giving him another kiss. "Come on, let's catch up with Rory." She said.

**So I hope you liked it! :) I hope you're all still with me. Let me know what you think by leaving a review. :) Thanks for your support! :)**


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